


Fallen Idols

by morgoth205



Series: The Wilted Rose [1]
Category: RWBY
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Gen, Post-Volume 2 (RWBY)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-02-18
Updated: 2017-06-17
Packaged: 2018-09-25 09:24:47
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 12
Words: 27,155
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/9813149
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/morgoth205/pseuds/morgoth205
Summary: After the battle in Vale Cinder has taken notice of Ruby, looking into the young girl and why Ozpin let her into the school so early. Discovering the secret of what makes Ruby special, Cinder seeks to use Ruby to further her goals, or at least deprive Ozpin of another pawn. Cinder's first step is having Emerald slip a special scroll into Ruby's things. It only takes a single spark to start a raging inferno.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> My first fic, just an idea that I randomly had. The first part is going to be told almost entirely from Ruby's point of view.

The last couple of days had been utterly exhausting, and all Ruby wanted to do was sleep but she was too excited to do it. After all, they had done so much! Roman Torchwick got caught and Vale had been saved from a White Fang attack. Rest was well deserved, and the rest of the team wasn’t having any problems. Yang was already asleep, splayed out in her bed and snoring like an Ursa. Weiss was quietly snoring in the bed below (She stared daggers at any of the girls who said she snored, insisting that it was impossible). Blake was still up too, but she was absorbed into a book. Ruby decided that maybe a glass of warm milk would help her fall asleep.

“Trouble sleeping?” Blake asked quietly as Ruby slid out of her bed.

“Yeah, I’m still pretty wound up from everything that’s happened.”

“Well that’s understandable, there’s been a lot of excitement recently,” Blake said.

“I’m going to go get a glass of milk, maybe that’ll help,” Ruby said with a sigh.  
Ruby made her way to the dorm’s small kitchen. She popped a glass of milk into the microwave and waited for it to heat up. Suddenly she noticed a couple of other people in the room with her, a young green haired woman accompanied by a taller woman with raven hair. “Hi guys!” Ruby said excitedly.

“It’s…. Ruby, right?” the raven-haired woman asked.  
“Yep! I don’t know if you told me what your name was though…” Ruby trailed off, feeling a little embarrassed.

The young woman smiled patiently, “I’m Cinder, and this is Emerald. Can't sleep?”

“No, after everything that’s happened today my mind’s all whoosh,” Ruby replied, waving her arms around. Behind her, Emerald rolled her eyes heavily. Cinder just smiled at her.

“I can understand that; it’s been a busy day. Defending people from a Grimm attack and capturing a wanted criminal can make it hard to wind down. You and your team did well today.”

Ruby beamed as she drank her milk. “Thanks Cinder! I saw you guys out there; you were pretty awesome today too! It was nice talking to you guys, but I should really be getting to bed,” Ruby said as she rinsed out the glass and put it in the dishwasher, “Good night!”

“Good night, Ruby,” Cinder said as Ruby ran out, a wicked smile on her face.

By the time Ruby returned to her room Blake had fallen asleep as well. “At least one of my teammates doesn’t snore,” she thought to herself. As she was changing into her pajamas she noticed something odd in her belt pouch. Curious, she reached in and pulled out a scroll. It wasn’t hers, and it had a note attached to it.

_A small gift as a reward for how well you performed today. – Cinder_

Confused, Ruby pulled the note off and took a look at the scroll. It looked pretty much identical to any other scroll, except for a small sticker. The sticker immediately drew Ruby’s eye, and gasped. It was a white rose. “What….” Ruby said quietly. She climbed up into her bed and opened the scroll. There was a folder labeled _Pictures_ on the main screen and Ruby tapped it. She almost dropped the scroll in shock.

There were pictures of her as a baby. Pictures of Yang as a little girl. Pictures of her dad, much younger and happier than he was now. But most importantly of all, there were pictures of a young woman in a white cloak with red and black hair, and piercing silver eyes. Summer Rose. “What… how…what is this?” Ruby said quietly. This was her mother’s scroll. Why did Cinder have it? _How_ did Cinder have it?

Frantic, Ruby started looking through the rest of the scroll. She opened up the messages app and found texts between her mother and father. Between Summer and Qrow. But the last messages…. Those were between her mother and Professor Ozpin.

_Oz, I managed to track down Salem._

_Ozpin: Excellent. I want you to attempt to destroy her._

_Are you crazy? I’m in the heart of her territory, surrounded by Grimm. Not only that, but from what I’ve seen she’s incredibly powerful. I’m not exactly ready to die._

_Ozpin: I’m afraid this isn’t a request Summer. You need to do this._

_This is supposed to just be a scouting mission Oz._

_Ozpin: Circumstances have changed. You have to do this now Summer, it may be the only shot we get._

_I have kids Oz. There’s no way I come out of this alive and you know it. I’m not going to leave Ruby and Yang without a mom just so you can fight your war._

_Ozpin: You know what will happen to them if you don’t Summer. Can you really have that weighing on your conscience?_

What did these messages mean? What war, and who is Salem? Why hadn’t Professor Ozpin told her about any of this? Why hadn’t anyone told her about any of this? Ruby’s mind was reeling. She had to know what was going on. Knowing that there was no way for her to fall asleep now, she got up and made her way to the exchange student dorms. It was at this point she realized she had no idea where to go. She didn’t know which room was Cinder’s, and it was late so she didn’t see anyone to ask. Luck was on her side apparently, because as she was leaving the dorm she caught sight of Emerald. “Emerald!” she whisper-shouted, “Hey, Emerald!”

The green-haired woman turned around and saw Ruby. She walked over to her, as quietly as possible, and said, “Ruby. What are you doing here this late?”

“I need to find Cinder. She gave me this scroll and I have no idea what it means. Please, which room is yours?” Ruby said, her voice desperate.

“Ruby it’s late, I’m sure Cinder’s sleeping by now. Can’t you just come back in the morning?”

“Please Emerald. I’m so lost now. It feels like my brain is about to explode, and I need help to make sense of this.” She held up the scroll, tears beginning to form in her bright silver eyes. 

Emerald sighed, “Alright, come on.” She led Ruby to a room a few doors down and softly opened up the door. “Cinder? Ruby’s here, she says she need to talk to you.”

There was a rustling sound, and suddenly Cinder appeared in the doorway. “Ruby? It’s late. What’s wrong?” 

Ruby glanced up at Cinder, briefly thinking that she looked pretty alert for someone who had just been woken up. She pushed the thought out of her mind, desperate to get some answers. “Cinder, what is this? How did you get my mom’s scroll? What’s with these messages between her and Ozpin? Please I-I’m so confused.”

Cinder looked down at her gravely. “There isn’t time for me to explain it all right now Ruby. You look terrible and you need sleep. What I have to tell you will prevent that. Meet me tomorrow in Vale after your classes. There’s a small tea shop called The Jasmine Dragon, we can have privacy there. I’ll explain everything to you there. Rest now, little Rose. We have a lot to talk about tomorrow.”

###### 

The sun peeked into her room to find Ruby lying awake, staring at the ceiling. Despite what Cinder had said she wasn’t able to get to sleep. She had too much going on in her mind. The other girls were waking up as well. Blake got up and was already going to change into her uniform. Weiss stirred below Ruby. All of a sudden a shoe came flying up and his Yang right in the face.

“Ah! Hey, what was that for Ice Queen?” Yang shouted angrily.

Weiss huffed and said, “Be glad it was only a shoe. Do you have any idea how difficult it is to sleep in the same room as you? I’m honestly surprised nobody has burst in here in the middle of the night thinking there was a Grimm attack.”

“I’m not the only one who snores in here princess. Maybe I’ll start throwing things at you when you start in on your Creep impression,” Yang shot back.

“I most certainly do not snore Yang Xiao Long. It is beneath me.” Yang rolled her eyes and jumped down. Ruby sat up as well, rubbing her eyes.

“Woah, Ruby, you look awful. Trouble sleeping?” Yang asked, concern in her eyes.

“Thanks sis, everyone wants to hear how bad they look first thing in the morning.” Ruby spat back. The lack of sleep was really getting to her, and it was only made worse by all the questions threatening to explode out of her head.  
“You do look a little unwell, no offense intended. Did the milk not help?” Blake asked.

“I guess I just had too much on my mind to get much of sleep,” Ruby replied with a yawn. She knew she wasn’t going to be at her best today. She only hoped that she could stay awake during another one of Professor Port’s “lectures”.

Yang put her arm around Ruby, “Well that’s ok Rubes, all we have for class today is Professor Port’s Story Time. That’ll put you right to sleep.” Yang grinned, and Ruby tried to put on a smile for appearances sake.

“Sleeping during class is extremely childish Yang,” Weiss said in her most lecture-y tone.

“Lighten up, I was only joking. I know how important it is to remember that Port’s grandfather smelled like cabbages.” Yang said sarcastically.

Their argument continued and Ruby smiled, this time for real. Her team could always help her smile, even if it was just from listening to Yang provoke Weiss. She wondered if Yang knew about her mom. She considered telling her about the scroll, but decided against it. She didn’t want to drop a bomb like this, not until she had more information. Besides, Yang had enough parental issues to worry about; Ruby knew that Yang still spent a lot of time trying to track down Raven.

“Alright team RWBY, off to class!” Ruby’s apparent enthusiasm was ruined by a huge yawn as she finished the sentence.

###### 

After what seemed like an eternity, Professor Port’s class was finally over and Ruby was free. She excused herself from her team, giving them the excuse that she was headed into Vale to pick up some tea to help her sleep. She walked into the Jasmine Dragon and looked around. The place was almost entirely empty. In fact, the only people here were the shop attendant, Cinder, Emerald, and their friend with the silvery-gray hair (Mercury, right?). Cinder waved her over to the table.

Ruby sat down, and Emerald and Mercury backed off. They took up position by the door, almost like they were trying to keep anyone else from coming in. “Would you like some tea Ruby? You certainly look like you could use the caffeine,” Cinder said with a faint smile. Ruby nodded sleepily. Cinder waved over the girl behind the counter, “Bring us some tea please, then leave us.” The young woman nodded hastily, and ran off to prepare the tea. 

The tea did help Ruby feel a little better, the warmth of it settling pleasantly in her stomach. She looked up at Cinder and pleaded, “What’s going on Cinder?”

The smile that Cinder had been holding fell away immediately. She locked eyes with Ruby and said, “The truth is that your mother was killed because of Ozpin’s obsession with fighting an ancient war. The woman mentioned in those messages, Salem, is my employer. Ozpin has been trying to kill her for years. Beacon is simply a front for him to train his soldiers.”

“What?” Ruby said, aghast, “That can’t be, the schools are there to train us to fight the Grimm.”

“That is what he claims they’re for. But look closer Ruby. The schools haven’t been around for that long, and men and Faunus have been fighting the Grimm for millennia. The sad truth is that the schools train huntsmen and huntresses to die in pursuit of Ozpin’s personal goals.”

Ruby couldn’t bear to keep eye contact with this woman any longer. Her eyes dropped to her lap and she thought for a moment. In a voice so quite it could barely be heard she said, “I-is that why he seemed to be threatening my mother? That last message. It seemed like he was using me and Yang as a threat to mom.”

A brief, wicked smile played across Cinder’s face. “That’s what he does Ruby. He forces people to do what he wants. He has no conscience. Take yourself as an example. He let you into Beacon two years earlier than usual, simply because of your silver eyes.”

Ruby’s face snapped up. “How did you know about that? And what’s so important about my eyes?”

Cinder stared at Ruby incredulously for a moment, “You mean he didn’t tell you? Ozpin you arrogant fool,” she said, almost to herself, “Ruby, silver eyes are a very rare trait. People who have them are said to be destined to be great warriors. Those eyes of yours… they have power. Power that Ozpin wants. It’s why he let you into the school so early. It’s why he was so interested in training your mother.”

“Why didn’t anyone tell me any of this?” Ruby pleaded, “Why didn’t Ozpin tell me about my eyes? About what happened to my mother?”

“Come now, little Rose, would you have truly chosen to fight for him if you knew he was responsible for your mother’s death? Ozpin and his inner circle lied to you so that they could use you to fight in this war.”

“Even Uncle Qr-“

“Even Qrow,” Cinder said, locking eyes with Ruby, “All of them.” She held Ruby’s gaze until the younger woman broke it, staring blankly into her lap.

“Why is everyone lying to me? Why won’t anyone just tell me the truth?” Ruby said, tears forming in her eyes.

“I’m not lying to you Ruby. I’m telling you this because you need to hear the whole truth. You need to choose your own destiny, not be manipulated into serving another.” Cinder said, wiping away Ruby’s tears.

Ruby was silent for a long moment. “You said you work for this Salem woman. Is that how you know all of this? Is that why you’re truly here?”

“Yes,” Cinder replied with a look of determination on her face, “I’m here to help ensure that Ozpin doesn’t have the chance to take anyone else.” She looked at Ruby, “So that he can’t separate any more families.”

“I want to help.” Ruby said flatly, still staring at her lap. Cinder’s eyes glinted, and a smile broke out on her face.

“It will be dangerous Ruby. I can’t ask you to make this decision lightly. Take some time and think on it, and if you decide that you truly want to help I’ll be here.”

Ruby nodded and got up. She walked out of the tea shop and made her way back to Beacon, lost in thought.

###### 

“Are you sure telling her all of that was a good idea Cinder?” Emerald said.

“Oh yes. She won’t tell anyone; she needs me too much so that she can find out more about her mother. She will be ours soon enough.” Cinder replied, a dark smile on her face. "It's amazing what you can get by simply deleting a single message."


	2. Chapter 2

_“What do you have there, my little Rose?” Summer said with a smile._

_“It’s my weapon! I call it Crescent Rose. It’s a scythe, just like Uncle Qrow taught me to use!” Ruby replied brightly. She was so happy to show her mom the weapon she had built._

_“It’s beautiful Ruby. I’m so proud of you.” Summer gathered Ruby into a warm hug._

_“Thanks mom!” Ruby said with a smile. She felt something wet against her chest. “Mom?” She pulled back, only to see a dark red spot expanding on her mother’s chest. “Mom?!” Ruby shouted, frantic._

_Summer stumbled backwards. She put her fingers up to her chest and pulled them back, wet with blood. Her face started to lose color. She looked pleadingly toward Ruby, “Help me! Please,” she cried. Ruby stepped back in horror, unsure of what to do.  
There was a sudden flash and when Ruby could see again Ozpin was standing over her mother, his cane buried in Summer’s chest. “Useless,” he said quietly._

_“Mom!” Ruby screamed. She reached for Crescent Rose and-_

Ruby’s eyes snapped open. Her heart was thudding against her chest. She took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. _It was just a dream_ , she thought, _a nightmare_. She seemed to have a lot of those recently. It had been nearly a week since her talk with Cinder, and Ruby wasn’t sure what to do anymore. She wasn’t sure what to think anymore. If everything Cinder said was true, then she’d been lied to her entire life. 

Cinder, true to her word, had left Ruby to make her own decision. Ruby had run into her a couple of times in the halls, but Cinder never pushed. She just smiled sweetly at Ruby and made polite small talk. 

She’d been trying to keep up her happy-go-lucky personality lately, at least so that the rest of her team wouldn’t notice. She knew it probably wasn’t working. At the very least Yang would notice. She just didn’t want to tell them anything, not yet. Not before she could find out more. The last thing she needed was her friends thinking she had gone insane.

She got up and went to the bathroom, splashing some water on her face. “Good morning, little Rose. Are you sleeping better?” she heard from behind her.

Ruby turned and saw Cinder standing there in her pajamas. Ruby smiled, “Yeah, sorta. I keep having nightmares though. But at least I’m actually sleeping!” Ruby ran her hand through her hair, and tried to put on a convincing smile. 

It didn’t seem to work, because the raven-haired woman looked concerned. “Do you want to talk about it? You know you can talk to me about things such as this.”

Ruby nodded, “I know. I don’t know that the bathroom is the best place for it though.”

Cinder laughed, “Yes, I suppose not. Maybe over a cup of coffee?”

“Sure. Lemme just put on some normal clothes first.” 

Ruby hurried out of the room. Behind her a slow, wicked smile spread across Cinder’s face.

###### 

A little while later Cinder and Ruby sat in the cafeteria, coffee in hand. Ruby described her nightmares to the older woman, who sat listening patiently. “I’ve had them pretty much every night since we talked,” Ruby said.

Cinder smiled ruefully, “I’m sorry, little Rose. I wouldn’t have told you if I didn’t feel that you needed to hear the truth.”

“I know, and I’m thankful for that. If nothing else, you gave me something to remember my mom by.”

Cinder smiled. There was a sudden loud thump on the bench next to Ruby. “Hey sis!” Yang practically shouted in her ear, “Who’s your girlfriend?” Ruby glared over at Yang, who sat there with a huge smile on her face.

“Ugh Yang she’s not my girlfriend.” Ruby glared at her sister.

Cinder laughed, “Cinder Fall.” She offered her hand to Yang.

“Hi. Yang Xiao Long. You’re an exchange student right? I’ve seen you around with that green-haired girl and the cocky looking dude.”

“Yes. We’re here from Haven to fight in the tournament. Speaking of my team, I should get back to them. It was good talking to you Ruby.” Cinder got up and walked away.

“She definitely doesn’t like me,” Yang said. Ruby rolled her eyes as Blake and Weiss sat down with them.

“Who was that?” Weiss said, looking after Cinder.

“Ruby’s new girlfriend,” Yang said, nudging Ruby with her elbow. Ruby glared even harder at Yang. “What? Why else are you having secret meetings early in the morning?”

“She’s just a friend. And we were in the cafeteria. Not exactly a prime spot for secret meetings.”

“Oh yeah? So where do you have them?” 

“Yang –“

“Did you sleep well Ruby?” Blake said, thankfully changing the subject. Ruby gave her a grateful smile.

“Yeah. All rested up and ready to train!” Ruby pumped her fist in the air.

“Good,” Weiss said, “The qualifiers for the festival are next week and we need to make sure we’re in top shape.”

“What happened to having it covered?” Yang said with a sigh.

“We still have to work to maintain our edge.” Weiss said stiffly.

“C’mon Yang, it’s not like it’ll hurt,” Ruby said, cutting off her sister’s response, “Let’s go!”

###### 

Ruby ducked out of the way as Gambol Shroud flew toward her head. Training with the team felt good. It gave her something to focus on, let her put everything else out of her thoughts. She spun Crescent Rose around and lunged toward Yang. Yang saw her, and moved to block. At the last second Ruby used her Semblance to fly right past Yang, hitting her in the back and throwing her across the arena. Yang landed on her feet and was just about to jump back at Ruby when she was suddenly encased in ice up to her knees.

Yang growled and began breaking her way out of the ice. Ruby looked over at Weiss and nodded. They both rushed toward Blake, Weiss running on glyphs and Ruby using her Semblance to get behind. Blake shimmered and jumped out from a clone but was abruptly pulled back to the ground, a black glyph beneath her. She swung at Weiss, who was now standing in front of her, but the blow was deflected. Ruby swung at Blake’s legs and managed to knock her off her feet.   
Blake landed on her hands and sprung back up, only to run right into a flurry of blows from Weiss. A buzzer sounded, indicating that Blake had been eliminated. Weiss smirked at Ruby, about to say something when a gauntleted fist hit her right in the face. The buzzer sounded again, and Yang stuck her tongue out at Weiss. 

Ruby noticed Yang’s hair was faintly glowing, which was bad news for her. She had to take her out quickly, before Yang could fully use her Semblance. Ruby readied herself to strike, when the world suddenly shimmered a little. Ruby shook her head, and found herself suddenly staring at her mother. Ruby froze. _What’s happening?_ she thought. Suddenly, Ruby found herself sailing through the air. She snapped back into focus, realizing that she had been hit by Yang.   
Ruby slammed Crescent Rose into the floor to stop herself. She looked up at Yang, who had a huge grin on her face. “Gotta pay attention sis.” Yang said with a laugh. Ruby gritted her teeth and lunged at Yang. The blonde grinned at took up a ready stance. Ruby swung, and Yang met the scythe with a punch. Ruby hung there in the air for a second, then pulled the trigger and launched herself backward. She landed and dove out of the way just in time to dodge the shell that hit the ground.

The world shimmered again and Yang turned into Ozpin. “Just as useless as your mother,” he said. Ruby screamed and shot forward. She used her Semblance and slammed into Ozpin. She hit him with little technique, only desiring to hit as hard as she could. He dodged an attack and she fired a round into his stomach. She lifted Crescent Rose to deal the final blow when a buzzer snapped her back into reality. She was standing over Yang who looked a little afraid. _What is going on?_

“Holy crap Ruby. I had no idea you could move like that,” Yang said. Her voice shook, just a little. 

“Sorry Yang, I guess I got a little carried away.”

Yang smiled, “No sweat Rubes. Although the scream may have been a little much.”

“Maybe,” Ruby said, blushing, “Just, y’know, trying to get into your head and all.”

“A scream like that would get to a lot of people,” a new voice said. Ruby turned and saw Emerald standing there. The green-haired woman was wearing the same smile she always did when she talked to Ruby. 

“Oh, hey Emerald. What brings you here?” Ruby said.

“Me and Merc decided to get a little sparring in. I caught the end of your fight, you did pretty good.”

“Thanks! I may have gotten a little carried away though.”

“Hey, you won right? That’s all that counts.”

“I guess,” Ruby replied, “I think I’ve had enough training for one day though.”

###### 

A few hours later Ruby found herself sitting in the courtyard, wondering what happened. _Have I actually started to go crazy?_ She pulled out her mom’s scroll. She’d been looking at it a lot lately, mostly the pictures. There were so many, and most of them were of her and Yang. There were a few of Summer and Taiyang, and a few shots of Summer pregnant with Ruby. Looking at these helped to calm Ruby. She wondered what Summer had been like as a person. Yang always called her super mom.

Ruby’s scroll buzzed suddenly, startling her out of her reverie. She looked down to see who was calling. “Hey dad,” she said.

“Hey kiddo, just wanted to check in on ya. It’s been a while since we’ve spoken, and you know how your old man is.”

“Terrible at lying? We just talked last week,” Ruby said, a small smile on her face, “Right before you mailed Zwei to us.”

“Alright, alright. You got me,” Taiyang replied, “I’m just calling to make sure that everything’s ok. Your sister said you’ve been having some trouble sleeping lately. So, everything alright?”

“Yeah, just a little stressed out,” Ruby lied, “When all this started I didn’t realize there would be so much reading. I expected a lot more, you know, fighting and stuff.” That, at least, was true. Huntresses were supposed to fight people, not listen to endless stories about fighting.

Taiyang laughed, “I guess I shouldn’t be surprised. You always were the one to just jump in. I still remember the time I had to get you down from the roof after you chased that ‘mighty Nevermore’ and got stuck.”

“Hey, that bird was pretty big to a six-year-old,” Ruby said, a laugh bubbling up. Taiyang laughed even harder. A question suddenly popped into Ruby’s head, “Hey, dad, I know you don’t really like to talk about it but – do you know what happened to mom?”

Silence was all she heard. Ruby knew that her mom’s death really messed up her dad, but she had to know. She had to have something to go on. 

Taiyang sighed sadly, “Honestly, I don’t know a whole lot. She had gone on some special mission for Ozpin. The whole thing was pretty hush hush. She was gone for a lot longer than she was supposed to be.” Ruby could hear the pain in her dad’s voice, “I didn’t get any news from anyone. Ozpin was silent. Then one day there was a knock at the door. It was Qrow. He just,” Taiyang hesitated, his voice breaking a little, “He just said, ‘I’m sorry Tai, she’s not coming’. That was it.”

Ruby felt horrible for making her dad relive that, “Dad, I’m sorry I –“

“No, no it’s ok. You have a right to know. I just wish I had more to tell you.” Ruby could hear the sorrow in his voice. “The whole thing is part of the reason your uncle and I don’t really get along too well anymore. I always got the feeling he knew more than he was telling me.” Taiyang cleared his throat, “Hey,” he said, his tone indicating an awkward topic change, “How’s Zwei doing? Did he make it through the mail ok?”

“Dad, you say that like mailing a dog is something normal.” 

“Well I had to get him to you somehow,” he said, laughing. Ruby heard another voice, muffled. “Hey, sorry Ruby I’ve gotta go. You’ll call me if you have any more problems, right?”

“Of course dad. Thanks for the call. I love you.”

“I love you too, sweetheart.”

Ruby sighed. Even her dad had been kept in the dark, and Summer was his wife. Ruby needed to know what happened, not only so she could give Cinder an answer but also for her own piece of mind. It was time to go straight to the source. She stood up and went to look for Ozpin.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm hoping to get about one chapter a week posted. Maybe more, maybe less. It depends a lot on school stuff. Gotta study for those CLEP tests.


	3. Chapter 3

“Ms Rose, please take a seat. Glynda said you’ve been trying to find me.” Ruby sat down in front of his desk. “Would you like something to drink?” Professor Ozpin said, gesturing toward the coffee pot on his desk. Ruby nodded and he poured her a mug. 

Ruby took a sip, “Hot chocolate?” she said, surprised.

Professor Ozpin smiled, “Honestly I’ve never cared much for coffee. To bitter.” He took a drink from his own mug, “Now, what can I help you with?”

“I just have a couple of questions,” she said, sipping nervously at her drink. This was it, if she couldn’t find anything out here then she wouldn’t anywhere.

“Of course Ms Rose.”

“Do you know what happened to my mother?”

Ozpin stared for a moment, considering. “Only what everyone else does. She went on a mission and never came back. Your uncle searched for her for days and was unable to find her. Her loss was unfortunate.”

“Unfortunate?” Ruby said, growing agitated, “My mother’s death was _unfortunate_?”

“A poor choice of words, perhaps,” Ozpin said, raising a hand in apology, “Summer’s death was a blow to all of us. She was a skilled huntress and a dedicated mother.”

“So you don’t know anything,” Ruby said flatly.

“I’m sorry Ms. Rose, I wish I had more to tell you.”

_I don’t know why I thought he would tell me anything, he wouldn’t even tell dad what happened_ , she thought. She sighed and mumbled, “Thanks,” as she stood up.

As Ruby turned to leave the room, a thought occurred to her. She turned to face Ozpin, “What about Salem?”

His face didn’t change for an instant, but his gaze seemed suddenly intense and angry. “Where did you hear that name?” Ozpin said, very slight surprise in his voice.

Ruby froze for a moment. What could she say? She couldn’t exactly tell him about Cinder, “I heard Uncle Qrow say something about it when he was asleep once.”

“Qrow you idiot,” Ozpin said to himself. “Sit down Ms Rose.” Ruby hesitated. Ozpin seemed almost…angry. It was very unusual considering his usual calm demeanor. 

“Ruby.” Ozpin said, his voice ever so slightly harder, “Sit. Down.”

Ruby sat back down. _Maybe now he’ll tell me something_ , she thought.

“Knowing that name is dangerous.”

“Why? How can knowing someone’s name possibly be dangerous?”

“She is an unusual being Ruby. Beyond that, she has associates out in the world that might not take kindly to people knowing of her.”

“Who is she? What does she have to do with you and Qrow?” Ruby said, “Please, I’m just trying to understand this.”

Ozpin sighed. “Ruby there is more going on in the world than you, or even most people, know. Simply put, there are people out there who mean to do us harm and I intend to stop them. You are too young for this fight Ruby.”

“I wasn’t too young to skip two years at Signal and come straight to Beacon, why does my age suddenly matter?”

“There is a very large difference between learning to fight Grimm and dealing with Salem.” He leaned forward, “You simply aren’t ready for this Ruby. Maybe when you’re older, but knowing things of this nature could get you killed if you aren’t ready. And make no mistake, you are not ready yet.”

Ruby glared at him. “How can I ever be ready if I’m never told anything?” she shouted. “I know you know what happened to my mother. Dad said she was on a mission for you when she died. And how would Qrow have known where to look for her if nobody knew what her mission was?” Ruby was on her feet by now, leaning on Ozpin’s desk. “Why won’t anyone tell me anything?”

Ozpin sat there for a moment, staring at her. “Because it is too dangerous for you,” he sighed, never breaking eye contact, “Yes, I do know the circumstances of Summer’s death. No, I will not tell you the exact details. As I’ve said, you’re too young. You aren’t ready yet.”

“But –“

“It isn’t up for discussion. I’m sorry to be this blunt about it Ruby.”

Ruby was angry. Angrier than she’d ever been. “So you’ve been lying to me, to my entire _family_ , for years. Even though you knew the entire time.”

“Ms Rose, try to understand that I’ve had a good reason to-“

“A good reason? A good reason to keep my father from having closure? To prevent me from being able to make choices with all possible knowledge? From knowing why my mother died? What possible reason could you have for keeping that from us?” Ruby shouted. Ozpin started to reply, but she talked over him, “I can’t believe this. You’re supposed to be one of the good guys.”

“You don’t have to stay here Ruby. You can leave Beacon any time you choose.” He paused for a moment, and sat back in his chair. “I understand your anger Ruby. Don’t let it cloud your judgement. You have the potential to be one of the greatest huntresses Remnant has ever known. One day you will be ready to know this information, and on that day I will tell you without hesitation. Until then you will have to trust me.”

“So that’s it then? ‘Learn to fight for me and maybe one day I’ll tell you’?” Ruby glared at Ozpin.

“I’m…sorry. I’m doing this to protect you Ruby. To protect everyone. If this information got out, the public would fall prey to fear. And fear brings the Grimm.”

“Fear?” Ruby said, “or outrage?”

“Fear. Ruby, I’ve been handling this for longer than you can imagine. Trust that I know what I’m doing.”

Ruby was furious. She turned and made her way to the elevator doors. “Ruby,” Ozpin said softly, “if it helps, know that Summer died a hero. She died doing her duty as a huntress.”

Ruby’s eyes blazed. _How dare he talk about her like that? He knows that he forced her to her death._ Without turning, she entered the elevator and left.

###### 

Ruby sat on a bench outside the CCT, angry and confused. She pulled out her mom’s scroll and opened to her favorite picture, hoping to calm down. It was a simple picture of her being held by Summer, a broad smile on her mother’s face. The caption at the bottom said My precious little Rose. Tears welled up in Ruby’s eyes.

Someone sat down on the bench next to her. “Hey Ruby,” Jaune said.

Ruby looked up at Jaune and saw the concern on his face. “Hey Jaune, how’s it going?”

“Ruby, you’ve been acting strange lately. Ever since the attack on Vale. Everyone’s worried, especially since you won’t tell anyone what’s wrong.”

Ruby sat there for a moment, silent. Maybe she should talk to Jaune, at least a little. It seemed like the whole world was coming apart at the seams, and Ruby knew she had to make a decision. She wiped the tears from her eyes and looked up at Jaune, “It’s just been…rough lately. Everything seems to be falling apart, and I don’t know what to do. I’ve got a choice in front of me, and I’m not sure which way to go. I’m scared Jaune. Scared I’ll do the wrong thing and a lot of people will suffer because of it.”

Jaune put his hand on her shoulder. “Ruby, sometimes you just need to follow your heart. Look inside yourself and you’ll figure out what to do.”

“But what if I’m wrong?”

Jaune smiled, “You once told me you wanted to become a huntress so you could help people. Since I’ve known you, that’s pretty much all you’ve done. You even helped me to become a better leader. You’ve even gone against dangerous people like that Torchwick guy just because you believed it was the right thing to do. I think you’ve got a pretty good idea of how to choose the right path. You probably figured it out right away.”

Jaune was right. Ruby had known all along what she needed to do. She looked at Jaune and smiled. “Thanks Jaune,” she said. Ruby got up and walked away. Finally, she knew what she should do.

###### 

Ruby knocked on Cinder’s door. A moment later the raven-haired woman opened it and smiled down at her. Ruby looked up, a determined spark in her eyes.

“I’ve made my decision. I want to help.”

Cinder’s smile grew, “Excellent. Come in little Rose.” Ruby walked into the room and saw Emerald and Mercury sitting on a bed. Cinder shut the door softly. She turned Ruby and said, “It’s time we filled you in on our plan.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Woo that was a lot of dialogue. 
> 
> Poor Jaune, his semblance seems to be giving people advice at the worst possible moment.


	4. Chapter 4

“You can rig tournament matches? How?” Ruby said, surprised.

“Do you remember the night you found someone in the CCT tower little Rose?” Ruby nodded. “That was me. I was there to plant a virus in the tower’s systems. This virus has given us access to any device that was plugged into any part of the CCT’s network. This includes the randomization software that was sent ahead of the stadium itself.”

Ruby considered this. “Ok then, so you rig the tournament and get the Grimm to come. What then? Won’t the Atlas forces that General Ironwood brought stop the Grimm? And that’s not even including the local huntsmen and huntresses.”

“We have another associate who is going to infiltrate Atlas’ forces and plant the same virus there. That will let us deactivate their robot soldiers. As for the huntsmen, our allies in the White Fang will assist by causing chaos to occupy them.”

Mercury scoffed, “Allies, yeah.” 

"Ok, but won't a lot of people die?" Ruby asked, "I thought we were doing this to bring down Ozpin, not to destroy Vale." 

Cinder looked at Ruby, her face serious, "Some people may be hurt, yes, but that pales to what will happen if Ozpin is allowed to continue his war. We only seek to discredit him and his ilk. Besides," she smirked, "the students should be able to to handle a few Grimm, right?" 

Ruby looked unsure. "I supp-" she started to say.

The door suddenly opened and a young girl in a black dress Ruby didn’t recognize walked in. She apparently recognized Ruby though. When she saw Ruby she froze and made some gestures at Cinder.

“She is helping us now,” Cinder said to her. The girl made some more gestures, her hands moving angrily. “That may be, but she has seen the truth. She is a skilled young warrior and she will be a great deal of help in bringing down the evil that Ozpin has wrought.” She made some more gestures at Cinder, giving Ruby an angry look. “Enough,” Cinder snapped, “This is my decision, not yours. Sit down.” The girl continued to glare at Ruby as she moved to sit. Once she sat down, a line of light began to move up her body and everything about her changed. Gone was the girl with the black hair, replaced by a woman with hair that was pink and brown. _Is this the girl Yang fought on the train?_ Ruby thought.

Cinder must have read her mind. “This is Neopolitan. She is an associate of Roman Torchwick, and she fought your sister during the train incident. She us understandably surprised to see you here, but she will work with you.” Cinder ended that statement by turning toward Neo, the look on her face saying that she wouldn’t be argued with.

“What are those hand gestures she’s making?” Ruby asked. Neo gave her an annoyed look.

“It’s sign language. Neo had a run-in a while ago with another one of Ozpin’s pawns. A woman by the name of Raven Branwen. A fight ensued, and Raven took Neo’s ability to speak,” Cinder said. Neo shimmered again, and there was now a long scar on her neck. Ruby’s eyes went wide and she gasped.

“Wait,” Ruby said, brow furrowing, “Raven? Yang’s mom?”

“Indeed,” Cinder said, “Ozpin has had a strange obsession with your family. Team STRQ was part of a twisted plan that he had to ensure that more silver-eyed warriors would be born. However, when Qrow showed no interest in your mother Ozpin’s plans were threatened. He engineered a rift between Raven and your father because he thought Summer’s nature would lead to them getting together.”

Ruby looked at Cinder, confused. “Wait, you’re telling me that I was only born because Ozpin wanted more people with silver eyes? Why?”

“As I told you before, silver-eyed warriors have great power. A fire burns within you, and when unlocked can make you one of the greatest warriors Remnant has ever seen.” Cinder gave Ruby a tight smile, “Ozpin’s arrogance led him to believe that he could breed these warriors to improve his army.”

“ _Breed?_ ” Ruby said, anger creeping into her voice. She couldn’t believe it. Her entire existence was because some old man held a grudge. Cinder walked over and put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder.

“I understand your anger little Rose. We can use that to tear down what Ozpin has built.” Cinder turned and walked to the center of the room. She turned to face everyone, her hands clasped behind her back. “Neo is our woman on the inside. She will use her semblance to infiltrate the Atlesian fleet at the appointed time.” Neo smiled brightly. Something about that smile unsettled Ruby. She turned to Mercury and Emerald.

“What will you guys do?” Ruby asked.

Mercury smirked, “Fight mostly. Make sure to get the right teams eliminated from the tournament.” He laid down on the bed, arms behind his head, “Shouldn’t be too hard.”

Emerald rolled her eyes. “Real specific Merc,” she said, sounding annoyed. She glanced up at Ruby. “My semblance can make people see things that aren’t there. We’re going to help get the Grimm to come by making certain people look bad. Should cause a decent amount of negative emotion, giving the Grimm some fuel.”

Ruby nodded. She looked back to Cinder and asked, “Ok then, what do I do?”

“For now you’re help will be information. Semblances, personalities, fighting styles, that sort of thing. We have an idea of who will work, but more information never hurts. You can also help with the staff and students here. The people of Beacon trust you little Rose, you will be able to get to people and places we can’t. You-“ Cinder was interrupted by Ruby’s scroll going off.

“Oh!” Ruby said, “I’m sorry, I forgot to silence it.” She looked at the scroll, and saw that Weiss was calling. “Uh, it’s Weiss. I should probably take it.” Cinder nodded. Ruby picked up the scroll and said, “Hey Weiss, what’s up?”

“Where are you?” she said, clearly annoyed, “We’re supposed to practice against JNPR today.”

“Oh, sorry I forgot. I’ll uh…” Ruby looked at Cinder, who mouthed Go. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

Weiss huffed, “You better hurry you dolt. This was your idea after all.” Weiss hung up. 

“She always that rude?” Mercury asked, sitting up.

“That’s just how she is when she’s annoyed,” Ruby said. She looked at Cinder. “I probably won’t be able to make it back here today.”

Cinder nodded. “Make sure you don’t tell them anything,” she said, a strange smile on her face, “We wouldn’t want them to get implicated in our plan.”

“You aren’t worried that they would tell Ozpin?” Ruby asked with surprise.

Cinder shook her head. “I’m more worried that he would accuse them of being part of it. We wouldn’t want to see them get hurt, would we?” Ruby shook her head. “Then tell them nothing.” Ruby nodded. Silently she got up and left the room.

###### 

Ruby stood, Crescent Rose ready as team JNPR readied themselves across the arena. “What do we do, boss?” Yang asked.

Ruby thought for a moment. “Weiss, do you think you can keep Pyrrha occupied for a bit?” Weiss nodded. “Ok, great. Weiss, you go after Pyrrha. Yang, you take Ren.”

“Ren?” Yang asked, “Why not Nora? You know, strong vs strong.”

Ruby shook her head. “Don’t you remember when she threw you through the ceiling?” she asked. Yang stuck her tongue out. “You’re both strong but she has reach.” Ruby looked at Blake. “That leaves you for Nora. You’re faster than she is, so you should be able to avoid getting hit. Aim for small, quick strikes. Trying to hit her too hard could leave you open.” Blake nodded. “I’ll take Jaune. If you eliminate someone go help Weiss. Pyrrha is our biggest problem in this fight. Ready?” Everyone nodded. The buzzer sounded the start of the fight, and everyone burst into motion. Weiss slid forward, summoning a wall of ice to separate Pyrrha from the rest of JNPR. Ren moved to intercept Blake but dodged backward at the last second to avoid getting hit by Yang.

Ruby smiled at Jaune, and he took a hesitant step backward, holding his shield out in front of him. Ruby spun Crescent Rose and fired behind her, using the momentum to slip into her semblance. A small red comet smashed into Jaune’s shield, forcing him backward. She kept up the assault, raining blows on his shield while firing Crescent Rose to speed her attacks. Jaune struggled to block her attacks, clearly not having anticipated the ferocity of her attack. She purposely overextended her attack, taking a small hit from Jaune to her aura. In doing so she managed to slip her scythe behind him. Jaune noticed her doing this, and she smiled as she pulled the trigger. The scythe pulled his legs out from underneath him and Ruby spun around, using her scythe blade to catch him. She threw him across the arena and into the wall, finally hearing the buzzer. _How does he have so much aura?_ she thought with exasperation. She turned around just in time to see Yang go flying past her. Yang hit the wall hard, her aura almost into the red. _How did Nora get away from Blake?_ she thought. She looked up at the board and noticed Blake had already been eliminated. She also saw that Jaune was still in the fight. The buzzer she heard had been for Blake. _Crap_ , she thought.

She fired, using the recoil to boost herself away from the fight so she could take stock of the situation. Blake was out. Jaune, Ren, and Yang were almost eliminated too. Weiss and Pyrrha were doing fairly well, mostly because Weiss could use dust and glyphs to keep her distance. Yang was standing up, dusting herself off. Her hair had started to glow. Ruby looked back at Ren and Nora. Ren was keeping an eye on Yang as she stood back up and Nora was giving Ruby one of her “Nora smash!” smiles. Ruby smiled back, and got into a ready stance. She smirked at Nora, who took this as an invitation to charge forward. Ruby held her ground. Nora launched herself into the air and started to swing her hammer down at Ruby. “Nora –“ she started to yell, but she was interrupted by a fist to the face. Yang flew by, propelling herself with blasts from Ember Celica. Her hair was on fire now, and her eyes were red. The buzzer sounded again. Ruby looked up and saw that Weiss had been eliminated. Pyrrha had barely lost any aura.

Yang looked up at Ruby as she fired wildly at Nora. “I’ve got them, go!” she shouted. Ruby nodded and rocketed off toward Pyrrha. Jaune got in the way, throwing off her charge. She slammed into his shield and then jumped out of the way as Pyrrha vaulted over him and slashed at her. Ruby took a defensive posture, spinning Crescent Rose in a circle around her to try and keep both away. She felt her scythe being subtly moved to open a hole in her defenses. She worked to correct it, but Jaune got a strike in. Pyrrha started to transform Milò into a spear but was interrupted when Ren flew into her. He knocked Pyrrha over, a buzzer indicating he had been eliminated. “Look out!” Yang shouted with a smirk. Pyrrha momentarily distracted, Ruby focused on Jaune. She pressed the attack until, thankfully, she saw his aura flicker and heard a buzzer. On instinct, she used her semblance to speed away just as Pyrrha lunged in.

 _Alright, just Nora and Pyrrha left. We can take this._ she thought. She moved in toward Pyrrha, knowing that her only chance was a full-on assault. Pyrrha’s skill and her semblance would allow her to counter anything Ruby could throw at her, unless she came in fast. Ruby slipped into her semblance and attacked. She became a whirling blur of steel and rose petals, but Pyrrha still managed to stop most of her attacks. Ruby was getting frustrated. She was chipping away at Pyrrha’s aura, but Ruby was depleting her own by leaning so heavily on her semblance. A buzzer sounded and suddenly Pyrrha jumped. Ruby had to pull back hard on her attack to avoid hitting Yang as she charged in. Yang stumbled too, trying not to hit Ruby. Yang and Ruby flanked her, trying to find a hole in her defenses. It was no good. Pyrrha managed to block or dodge most of their attacks. She managed to backhand Ruby with her shield, dazing the small girl for a moment. “Need a little help here sis!” Yang shouted, fully on the defensive now. Ruby had an idea. She jumped to the side and slid into her semblance, circling the two fighters for a moment to build momentum. Yang slammed a fist into the ground, causing Pyrrha to jump backward. Ruby went as fast as she could go, using her anger over everything that had happened recently to push her further than she had ever gone. Yang managed to land a solid hit on Pyrrha, taking out a good chunk of her aura. Unfortunately, this left her open to a counter-attack. Pyrrha hit her several times in quick succession and a buzzer sounded.

Ruby charged in at Pyrrha, trailing rose petals. Pyrrha took a defensive stance, ready to strike the moment Ruby slowed. Then, surprising both, Ruby split into three pieces at the last second. She flew around Pyrrha, combining back into one. She dropped out of her comet and slammed Crescent Rose into Pyrrha. The stunned girl flew across the room and hit the wall. Ruby fired herself forward and struck Pyrrha again. Pyrrha recovered from her shock, but it was too late. Ruby’s strike connected and a buzzer sounded. Team RWBY had won. Weiss, Blake, and Yang ran up to her. “Holy crap Rubes, how did you do that?”

“I uh…don’t really know,” Ruby said sheepishly. 

“Of course you don’t,” Wiess said, her voice dripping with sarcasm.

“We should definitely figure out how you did that. It could be a great help during the tournament,” Blake said.

Yang put her arm around Ruby, “Yeah! Nobody will be expecting anything like that!”

Ruby smiled, “C’mon, let’s go congratulate JNPR on a good fight!”

###### 

A while later, after everyone had gotten cleaned up from the fight, Ruby and her team sat in their dorm. Ruby was reading a book, trying to relax, when she heard the door lock click. She looked up and saw the rest of her team staring at her. “We need to talk,” Yang said gently.

“About what?” Ruby asked, puzzled.

“We’re worried about you. You haven’t been sleeping well lately and you’ve been ignoring us to spend so much time with those exchange students. Which, you know, making new friends is great and all but you seem off balance.” Yang said, sitting down next to her on the bed. “We just want to make sure you’re ok.”

“I’m fine guys,” she said. Looking around the room she could tell that nobody believed her. “Seriously, I’m fine.”

“Then why haven’t you been sleeping?” Weiss asked.

“It’s just stress,” she said, annoyed. How many people would she have to tell that too? “I’m just, y’know, stressed out about the tournament and stuff.”

“Ruby…” Yang said, “You know you can talk to us about anything, right?”

“It’s nothing guys, seriously. And I have been sleeping the last few day ok?” 

The other three girls shared worried looks. “Ok Ruby,” Yang said sadly, “You’ll tell us if it becomes a problem, right?”  
“Right,” she lied, “It’s getting kinda late, I’m going to go to bed.” She rolled over and pulled the covers up. She didn’t want them to see the look on her face right now. She wanted to tell them the truth, to tell them everything. But Cinder was right. They were safer if they didn’t know.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Based on some feedback (which is always appreciated), I edited the chapter a little so that Ruby doesn't go from zero to murder right away.


	5. Chapter 5

_Ruby stood in a wide-open field. The sun was high, warm and inviting on her face. A peal of thunder shattered the silence. Looking to her right she saw clouds rolling in quickly. As the ground was swallowed in shadow the grass and flowers wilted before becoming lost in the darkness. The clouds overtook Ruby and she suddenly felt cold. The storm began to rage around her, the wind whipping at her cloak. The thunder grew to ear-shattering levels and each bolt of lightning seemed blinding. Just when Ruby thought the storm would swallow her whole she felt a warm hand on her shoulder. She turned to see a bright silver flame burning, defiant in the tide of the storm. The gentle warmth of the flame spread through Ruby’s body, pushing back the icy darkness. The wind howled in defiance, ripping up the ground around her until Ruby stood in the eye of the storm, protected only by the flickering flame. The flame started to fail and the wind’s howling picked up, sounding almost hungry. The flame flickered wildly in the storm, finally dying with a whimpering, almost human cry._

_The storm swept in immediately. Ruby felt herself become lost among the winds, tossed about like a helpless child. The edged of her vision turned black, and the cold began to seep into her heart. A loud, sudden crash and a blast of crimson heat struck her. Ruby turned to see a second fire, burning red and angrily. Though this fire offered warmth as well, it was edged and nearly burned her. The storm was held at bay, howling louder than before but unable to come close to the defiant crimson flames. Ruby stood against the frozen winds, her back to the fire, and stared into the depths of the storm._

The first light of dawn crept into the room and shone on Ruby’s face, pulling her from her dream. She sat up, stretching, and looked around the room. Everyone else was still asleep. She quickly got dressed and headed to the dorm’s small kitchen to make herself some coffee. As she drank, she thought back on her dream. Its memory was already fading as dreams do. She remembered fire and shadow, remembered searing heat and bitter cold warring. She shook her head, trying to focus on something else. The first round of the qualifiers started tomorrow. She knew she needed to be at her best so that team RWBY could make it into the tournament. Still, her doubts sat heavy on her heart. She needed to clear her head, and she knew there was only one place she could truly do that. She sent a quick text message to Yang, finished her coffee, and headed to the ferry.

###### 

About an hour later Ruby stood on a cliff overlooking a forest, the wind tugging gently at her cloak. A few rose petals caught in the breeze, floating lazily away from her.

“Hey mom,” Ruby said softly, looking down at the small grave. “I know I haven’t been by in a while. Things have been pretty crazy recently. I- I learned what happened to you, at least a little.” Ruby paused, unsure of what to say next. Silver eyes welling with tears, Ruby continued, “I’ve been,” she huffed out a breath, “I’ve just been so angry. I’m angry because I’ve been lied to. I’m angry because I’ve spent years thinking on way, only to find out that I’m pretty much entirely wrong.” Ruby wiped some of the tears from her eyes. “But mostly, I’m angry because I feel like I got cheated out of time with you. For a long time, I was a little angry with you for leaving me, but now I know you didn’t have a choice. You were threatened by a monster. A monster that tore our family apart, nearly destroying dad.” Ruby fell to her knees, crying openly. “And I’m worried. I’m worried that someone innocent is going to get hurt by my anger. I have a new friend, and she has a plan to stop Ozpin but it could easily get out of control. People could die. I’m so worried that something bad will happen and I can’t even talk to Yang about it because Ozpin might come after her too.” Ruby held her face in her hands, still crying softly. “I’m worried that my anger will make things worse.”

“It will make you strong,” a soft voice said from behind her. Ruby turned and saw Cinder standing there, holding a small package.

“Cinder? What are you doing here?” Ruby asked, confused and a little upset at the intrusion.

The raven-haired woman smiled gently. “I’m sorry to interrupt, little Rose,” she said softly, “I needed to speak with you and I saw you leaving the school so I decided to follow. I didn’t mean to intrude, but I lost track of you in the forest and just happened upon you a moment ago.”

“It’s ok,” Ruby said, forcing a smile while wiping away her tears. At least Cinder was someone to talk to, someone who knew what was happening. “What did you need to talk about?”

Cinder walked toward her, placing a hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “So this is Summer’s memorial. I never knew her personally, but I would like to pay my respects if that is alright with you.” Ruby nodded. Cinder smiled and turned to the gravestone. “You have a very brave daughter. She doesn’t hesitate to do what is right and what needs to be done. From what I have been told of you, I believe that you would be proud of her.” Cinder turned to Ruby, “Now, as to one of the reasons I wanted to speak with you, I had an associate of mine send me this.” She held out the small paper package to Ruby. Ruby took it and opened it carefully, finding a small metal rose inside. It looked much like her own, but it was more detailed and finely crafted. The metal was solid white.

“Is this?” Ruby asked.

“It was found in Summer’s possession after her…unfortunate misunderstanding with Salem. I thought you might want it so I sent for it shortly after our first talk.”

Ruby held it to her chest. First the scroll and now this. Real, tangible memories of her mother. More than she’d ever had. “Thank you,” she said, her voice quiet. She stood up, and the two of them began to walk back toward the forest. “Why else did you want to talk?” Ruby asked.

“I saw the end of your match with team JNPR yesterday. I’m impressed. How did you manage to split yourself into multiple pieces?” Cinder asked.

“I don’t know,” Ruby said, looking down and the ground.

“Ruby,” Cinder said, stopping and gently grabbing her by the shoulders, “I think that you do.” Cinder held Ruby’s gaze, her amber eyes burning.

“I-“ Ruby started, looking away. “I was so _angry_. Not at Pyrrha, but at everything that’s happened. Everything I’ve learned. I just…I just leaned into it.” Ruby said, the words spilling out.

Cinder smirked and said, “There, you see? Your anger made you strong.”

“But what if I hurt someone?” Ruby said, her voice wavering.

“That is why you need to learn to control it. Anger can be a weapon. There are times when it must be unleashed to wreak havoc on your foes, and time when it must be focused. I can teach you how to focus it. I can make you strong.” Cinder said, her eyes beginning to glow with an angry yellow light. 

“I don’t know,” Ruby said, “My father always said that anger was a weakness in battle. That you should try to think your way around your opponent rather than crash straight through.”

“Unfocused anger can be a weakness, yes. But you have seen where focusing it can take you little Rose.” Cinder looked down at Ruby, who was clearly still hesitant. She caught the silver eyes and held them in her gaze. “You want to be strong, don’t you? Strong enough to defeat Ozpin and stop all of this?”

Ruby’s eyes grew hard. She glanced back toward her mother’s grave, and said in a quiet voice, “Teach me.”

###### 

Ruby ducked out of the way as a black boot moved in toward her head at blinding speed. She could hardly keep up with Mercury’s movements; it was all she could do to not get hit. Even for that she had to tap into her Semblance. Mercury suddenly smirked at her, launching himself up into the air. She jumped to the side as he crashed back down, leaving a small crater in the ground. Ruby started to regain her balance when something hit her from behind and sent her flying. She spun around to see Cinder standing there, one hand held palm-first in front of her. Ruby slammed into a tree, getting the breath knocked out of her momentarily. Her aura flashed from the strain. “Cinder? What are you doing?” she gasped.

“You aren’t using your anger little Rose. You are merely dodging attacks. Your speed is admirable, but you will never take down your opponent by dodging.” Cinder said, her eyes hard. Ruby growled, launching forward. She grabbed Crescent Rose from behind her and unfurled it. She was just about to strike Cinder when Mercury came in from the left and kicked her in the stomach, sending her flying. This time, she righted herself and hit the tree feet-first, scattering leaves everywhere. She launched herself forward, firing Crescent Rose and slipping fully into her Semblance. She flew toward Mercury, changing directions at the last second to avoid a boot to the face. She darted around behind him and swung Crescent Rose. There was a clash of steel on glass as Cinder caught the blow on one of her swords. She spun and kicked Ruby, throwing the young huntress backward. “Excellent. Do you see how much faster you are?” Cinder said.

“This would be going a lot better if you weren’t interfering.” Ruby growled, standing up. She readied for another attack, loading gravity rounds into Crescent Rose for an extra boost.

“Your opponents will never fight fair little Rose. You must be strong enough to defeat them and quick enough to change your strategies when they-“ Cinder jumped as a burst of rose petals flew past where she was. “Good,” Cinder purred. Her smug attitude was beginning to annoy Ruby. She didn’t have much time to dwell on it though, because Mercury was on her the moment she stopped moving. Ruby leaned heavily on her Semblance to avoid the onslaught, but it was starting to drain her aura. Mercury clipped her head and sent her spinning. As she recovered, she heard Cinder sigh and say, “Emerald.” Suddenly, Mercury was gone and Ozpin was in his place. He scoffed at hear and said, “Weak. Just like your mother.”

Ruby’s eyes narrowed, and she felt hatred flare in her heart. She fired Crescent Rose and burst forward, faster than she’d ever gone. She slammed into Mercury and threw him off balance. She began to fly around him, a crimson comet trailing rose petals. She flew faster and faster until the wind started to lift him from the ground. She stopped abruptly and slammed her scythe into him, throwing him down and creating a small crater. A look of surprised flashed across his face momentarily, though it was quickly replaced by anger. He sprung back up and moved toward the now exhausted Ruby. A vicious kick to the head sent Ruby flying toward the trees again. She slammed into a tree hard, her aura flickering and dying. Ruby was dazed, and could already feel the bruise spreading on the side of her face. Mercury was walking toward her.

“Enough,” Cinder snapped. Mercury stopped in his tracks as Cinder walked up to him. She glared at him and said in a hard voice, “The point of this isn’t to kill the girl. Rein yourself in.” Cinder walked over to Ruby and helped her up. “Are you alright, little Rose?” she asked in a soft voice.

Ruby shook her head. “I think so,” she said dazedly, “Although I’m pretty sure I have a big bruise on my face.”

Cinder smiled. “It will heal. I’m proud of you Ruby. You even managed to surprise Mercury with the fury of your attack.”

Ruby poked at the bruise on her face, wincing. “I don’t think I’ll be doing that again,” she said. Cinder smiled.

“Let’s return to the school, I’m sure your teammates are wondering where you are.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry about the missed posting last week. Between finishing my bachelor's, dealing with a busted computer, and a lovely indoor hornet infestation I was pretty busy.


	6. Chapter 6

Ruby stood outside the door to her team’s dorm, hesitating. She wasn’t sure exactly how they would react to the giant purple bruise on her face, but she was pretty sure it wouldn’t be good. She could hear them talking inside. Well, she could hear Weiss and Yang bickering at any rate. She took a deep breath, put on a smile, and opened the door. “Do you have any idea how hard it is to study with you playing that stupid game so loudly?” she heard Weiss ask. Yang just rolled her eyes at the heiress. 

“Hey Rub-“ Yang said, stopping abruptly when she saw Ruby. Her eyes widened in concern as she said, “Holy hell Ruby, what happened to your face?” Suddenly there were three pairs of eyes staring at Ruby.

Ruby shrugged and said, “It was just a training accident. I’ll be fine by tomorrow.” She smiled a little broader, but it didn’t have any effect.

“’Just a training accident’? Ruby, it looks like you got smashed into a rock. Several times,” Yang said. Her expression was somewhere between worried and angry. 

“Who were you training with anyhow? We didn’t have anything scheduled,” Weiss asked, sounding suspicious.  
“Cinder was just-“ Ruby tried to get out.

“Oh good, that woman again,” Yang interrupted, “Ruby, training shouldn’t give you a _huge bruise on your face_. You need to stop spending so much time with that woman if she’s just going to hurt you.”

“It’s not like it was on purpose,” Ruby said defensively. 

“Still,” Blake said, “Any sort of training should stop well before your aura gets low enough to leave marks like that.” 

Ruby growled. “I _said_ it was an accident. Why are you all so worked up about it?” 

“Ruby you got _hurt_ ,” Yang said, her voice tight. “I know you think she’s your friend, but friends don’t do _that_ to you,” Yang said, pointing at Ruby’s bruise. “Clearly your aura went down. Things could’ve been a lot worse.”

“It’s not that bad!” Ruby shouted, “It’s just a bruise.” Ruby was starting to get angry. They were all making way too big of a deal out of this. Sometimes people got hurt training. It was just part of being a huntress.

“Ruby –“ Yang said, forcing her voice to be softer.

“No!” Ruby shouted, “What’s this really about? You all know that training accidents happen some times. I don’t recall anyone giving Weiss this much trouble when she twisted her ankle.”

Her teammates shared a look, and Yang sighed. “Look, Ruby…” Yang hesitated. “We just…We think you’re spending too much time with Cinder.” 

“Weren’t you the one that said I needed to make friends?” Ruby asked with a flat look.

“Well yeah, but this is different,” Yang said sheepishly. She looked at Blake and Weiss for support.

“How?” Ruby asked, anger creeping into the edges of her voice.

“You’ve been acting…strange ever since you met her,” Weiss said.

Ruby opened her mouth, but before she could say anything Blake added, “I know we’ve talked to you about that before, but you have been. You’re distant, and you’re starting to be angry all the time. It’s not like you.” Blake stood up and walked over to Ruby. She put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder and softly said, “We’re just worried ok? All of us, even JNPR and Professor Ozpin-“

“Ozpin?!” Ruby yelled. “What does he have to do with this?” she spat. She brushed Blake’s hand away and turned toward the door. How dare he interfere with her team. Was nothing sacred to that man?

“Ruby he’s just worried like all of us are!” Yang shouted, red eyes flashing. She moved between Ruby and the door, placing a hand on Ruby’s chest to stop her. “You need to calm down. You need to talk to us. Why are you so angry? All we’re trying to do is help you.”

“Right. That’s why you’re trying to keep me from having other friends,” Ruby said, giving Yang an incredulous look. Yang started to talk but Ruby interrupted her. “Look, I’m done having this conversation for now. It’s late, I need to shower, and I need to sleep so that my aura’s back up for tomorrow.”

“Ruby…” Weiss said, trailing off. She sighed.

“Rubes, c’mon,” Yang said pleadingly. Her violet eyes were worried.

Ruby sighed. “Guys look, I get that you’re worried but you don’t need to be. It was just an accident ok?” The three other girls all looked at her, clearly not comforted at all. Ruby sighed, pushing her way past Yang and walking toward the bathroom. Her silver eyes grew hard as she walked. Now Ozpin was trying to turn her friends against her. Well, she wouldn’t let him take any more than he already had. She sent a quick text to Cinder and hopped in the shower.

###### 

A few hours later, after she was sure the rest of her team was asleep, she snuck out of their dorm and quietly made her way to the exchange student dorm. She knocked on the door and a moment later the raven-haired woman opened it. “Come in, little Rose,” Cinder said softly. Ruby smiled and walked into the room. She settled down onto one of the empty beds and looked at Cinder, who had a worried expression on her face. “That bruise doesn’t appear to be getting any better,” she said softly. She sat down next to Ruby on the bed.

“I just need to sleep, my aura will take care of it,” Ruby said. She was tired and wished she could sleep right now, but this couldn’t wait. 

Cinder studied Ruby and made a thoughtful noise. “That won’t do. Hold still little Rose,” she said as she placed her hands on Ruby’s face.

Ruby’s eyes widened and she gasped. Cinder wasn’t seriously doing this right? “Cinder-“ she said quietly.

“It will be ok, little Rose. You will need all your strength for your fight,” Cinder whispered. 

Cinder began to glow softly, causing the room to take on a gentle orange light. Ruby felt warmth spreading into her body from Cinder’s hands. She could feel her bruise disappearing as Cinder’s aura supplemented her own. Nobody had ever connected their aura to hers before. Aura connection was not only an intimate gesture, but it was exhausting to the person giving their aura. It was usually only done in dire circumstances, yet here Cinder was doing it just to help Ruby heal a bruise. 

The orange glow faded from the room as Cinder broke the connection. Ruby put her hand to her face, poking tentatively at her bruise. Or where her bruise was, at any rate. It was gone now, healed by Cinder’s aura. Ruby looked at the raven-haired woman, who was smiling tiredly. “T-thank you Cinder,” Ruby stammered.

“It is nothing, little Rose,” Cinder said, weariness touching her voice, “As I said, you will need to be at full strength so you can get into the tournament. Besides, my team doesn’t have a match until tomorrow. Plenty of time for me to rest.” She smirked at Ruby. “Now,” she said, straightening up, “what was it that you wanted to talk about?”

“Right,” Ruby said, having forgotten why she was here. “It’s my team. They’re concerned that I’m spending too much time with you. I think that Ozpin may have something to do with it. I’m afraid that he’s trying to turn them against me.”

“I was afraid that they might get caught up in this,” Cinder said, “Ozpin likely suspects that he’s losing his grip on you, and is going to try to use your friends to stop you from turning away from him.”

“Can't we just tell them what’s going on? They might want to help us, if they knew the truth,” Ruby said, voice filled with hope.

“Your sister may help us, but I wouldn’t be so sure of the other two. Blake is a former member of the White Fang and is wanted for terrorism in some places. Ozpin has likely used that as blackmail material to keep her under his thumb. Weiss is the heiress to one of the world’s largest corporations. She would undoubtedly be disowned if she were to take part in our plan, and Ozpin wouldn’t hesitate to send evidence of that to her father,” Cinder said matter-of-factly.

Ruby was stunned. She couldn’t believe that her friends might work against her. She wouldn’t. “Cinder,” she said.

Cinder held up her hand. “I’m not trying to say that your friends will work against you, little Rose. I just want you to consider these things before we bring on anyone else.”

Ruby thought for a moment. “Ok if, and I mean if, I’m willing to believe that, then what about Yang? Ozpin doesn’t really have anything to hold over her.”

“Yes, but there is some risk to what we’re doing. If we are compromised then we would become fugitives. You have accepted that risk because you are brave enough to stand for what is right. But would you really be willing to have your sister take on that risk as well?”

Ruby thought about that. She really didn’t want to endanger Yang like that. “I guess not. But then…how do I keep Ozpin from taking them from me?”

“Lie. I know that it isn’t what you want, but it is only temporary. All will become clear to everyone when this is finished. Until then, hide your anger from them. Be the happy girl that you were before the truth was revealed to you,” Cinder said.

Ruby sighed. She didn’t want to keep lying to her friends, but the alternative was too dangerous for them. She nodded to Cinder. “Excellent. Now, get some rest little Rose. And good luck,” Cinder said with a faint smile. Ruby got up and snuck back into her dorm.

###### 

There was a nervous energy in the arena as the teams gathered for the first day of the qualifiers. Since the matches weren’t held in the coliseum there weren’t any spectators to watch. Ruby looked around and saw several teams, all various degrees of nervous or excited. She turned to her team, “Alright team RWBY!” she said, forcing excitement into her voice, “We can do this! Then it’s on to the tournament.”

“Well you certainly seem to be in a better mood,” Weiss said. 

Ruby smiled and said, “It just goes to show you what a good night’s sleep can do.” Truthfully, she was still a little tired and angry, but she was determined to hide that from her team so that they could be safe. 

Yang was about to say something but was interrupted when Glynda’s voice came over the PA. “Would team RWBY and team WAVE please report to the arena.”

“Alright, that’s us,” Ruby said, “lets kick some butt!”

A few minutes later RWBY stood across the arena from the other team. Their leader, a boy by the name of Wolfe, winked at Yang. She rolled her eyes and readied herself for the fight. “That one’s mine, ok?” she said with a smirk.

“Begin,” Glynda said.

Yang lunged forward, readying Ember Celica for an attack. Violet slashed at Yang with one of her swords but Yang jumped over it, using her gauntlets to gain some air as part of a handspring. Violet turned, her other sword shifting into a pistol. Before she could get a shot off she found herself partially encased in ice as Weiss joined the battle. Yang slammed back to the ground, throwing Wolfe off balance and forcing him to take a defensive stance. Ruby looked to the side and noticed Autumn trying to sneak back behind Yang. She looked at Blake and said, “Think you can handle Esmerelda?” Blake nodded. Ruby unfurled Crescent Rose and fired behind her. She launched forward and slipped fully into her Semblance. _Let’s see if I can do that tornado thing again, she thought._ In the blink of an eye she was across the arena and bearing down on Autumn. The girl noticed Ruby at the last second and tried shooting at her, but Ruby was too fast. Ruby started to circle her, but she couldn’t seem to go fast enough to get the wind going. Autumn had turned her rifle back into a longspear and was trying to hit Ruby. Ruby growled and forced herself to move faster. She knew she was starting to drain her aura but she didn’t care. The other girl was struggling, trying hard to keep her eyes on Ruby. 

Finally giving up, Ruby suddenly dropped out of her Semblance and slammed Crescent Rose into the girl. She managed to hook Autumn on the blade of her scythe and hurled the girl forward with all her might. She wasn’t nearly as strong as Yang, but her throw was good and she watched as Autumn crashed into Wolfe. “Yang!” she shouted. Yang saw the opening and smirked. Yang’s fist slammed into Wolfe’s chest, sending both him and Autumn flying. The buzzer sounded twice, both members of the opposing team eliminated due to ring out. The buzzer sounded a third time and Ruby looked back to Blake, who had just dropped Esmerelda’s aura into the red. Ruby looked over at Weiss, who seemed to be having a little trouble with Violet. Both girls were heavy Dust users, and they were fairly evenly matched. Ruby growled and shot toward Violet. She saw Ruby coming at the last possible second and tried to move out of the way, but she wasn’t prepared for the ferocity of Ruby’s attack. Ruby had found her anger.

Crescent Rose fired repeatedly as Ruby spun it around. Ruby became a whirling dervish of steel, slowly pushing Violet back. Ruby could see the fear in the other girl’s eyes as she pressed the attack. A buzzer sounded distantly, but Ruby didn’t pay attention to it. Someone shouted something but she barely heard it. Suddenly, Ruby found herself unable to move her scythe. She turned to see Glynda walking toward her, riding crop held out and an angry expression on her face.

“Ms. Rose, the buzzer means that you are to stop. This is your one and only warning. Am I clear?” Glynda asked, her tone telling Ruby she had better agree. Ruby nodded. “Good,” Glynda said.

The rest of team RWBY made their way over to her. “Well that was kinda…easy,” Yang said.

“It was,” Weiss agreed, “now we just need to make sure that our leader doesn’t get us disqualified.” She glared at Ruby.

Ruby scratched at the back of her neck, smiling awkwardly. “Sorry guys. I didn’t hear the buzzer,” she said.

“Hmph. Well you better pay attention next time Ruby Rose,” Weiss said, putting her finger right up in Ruby’s face. Ruby smiled.

“Well, we won anyhow,” Blake said. “Now we just need to make it through the other qualification rounds.”

“Piece of cake,” Yang said, punching her fists together. She smirked, “C’mon, let’s go watch JNPR’s match.”

As they were walking away Ruby heard Glynda’s voice again, “Ms. Rose,” she said. Ruby turned around, expecting to get in trouble again. “Professor Ozpin would like to speak with you in his office.”


	7. Chapter 7

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I realized I'm going to need these tags eventually, so I decided to add them here instead of right before they were needed.

Ruby was fuming as the elevator rose toward Ozpin’s office. This was a waste of time. Their last talk hadn’t gone well, and she doubted this time would be any different. The doors opened and Ruby saw Ozpin standing near one of the windows overlooking the school. He turned toward her and said, “Ah, Ms. Rose. Please, take a seat.” Ruby sat down, keeping her eyes on Ozpin the entire time. He must have noticed because he smiled slightly and said, “You aren’t in trouble Ms. Rose, I just wanted to talk to you. Would you like a drink?” He gestured to the silver coffee pot on the desk.

Ruby shook her head. “No thanks. Why did you want to see me?”

Ozpin poured himself a cup and sat down. “Professor Goodwitch tells me that she had and step in to stop you from hurting a young woman during a match.”

“I didn’t hear the buzzer,” she said defensively.

“Your team tells me that you have been acting strange lately. They say you've been unusually angry.”

“You know why I’m angry.”

Ozpin sighed. “Yes, I remember our last conversation.” He sat back in the chair and took a drink. “It’s not healthy to hang onto anger Ruby. I understand why you feel the way that you do, but you need to work through it. Talk to your team. See the school counselor. Do something. It’s for your own good.”

Ruby snorted, “Because you know all about letting things go.”

“Ruby I told you once that I've made more mistakes than any person alive, so believe me when I say I’ve been through this. Holding onto anger is like holding onto a burning coal, in the end we hurt ourselves more than the people we’re angry with.”  
“I know how to use it. I’ve gotten stronger.” She knew she had, the recent fights had proven that. 

“But at what cost?” he asked. “Someone was there to stop you this time, but what about next time?”

Ruby shifted in her seat. Ozpin might have a point. “So I’ll learn better control. It won’t happen again.”

“Ruby,” he said with a sigh, “the point is to learn to let it go. If you won’t do it for yourself, do it for others. Anger will bring the Grimm.”

“I doubt one more angry person in Vale will change much.”

“What if you're out on a mission? You could attract them to a village that you’re trying to defend.”

“Then won’t they come after me? Isn't that better than attacking someone who can’t fight them?”

Ozpin sighed again, clearly becoming more frustrated. “That isn't the point Ruby,” he said.

“Then what is the point?”

“The point is that you’ll hurt yourself and others in the end Ruby. You have to let this anger go.”

“But I need it,” she said forcefully.

Ozpin looked surprised. “Why?”

“I need to be stronger so that I don’t end up dying alone in the middle of nowhere!” she shouted, suddenly on her feet. Her eyes widened as she realized what she’d said.

Ozpin sat back, stunned. “Ruby I-”

“Quiet!” she snapped. She’d already gotten to this point, she might as well keep going. “You want to know why? I don't want to abandon everyone because I got caught up in your war!” Ozpin sat silently for a moment, shock evident on his face. Ruby still stood, trembling. Her mind was a torrent of emotion, rage mixed with grief. Ozpin opened his mouth to say something but Ruby interrupted, “If I’m not in trouble can I go?” Ozpin nodded and Ruby turned to leave.

As she stepped into the elevator she heard him softly say, “Ruby, please think about what I said.” Ruby kept her back to him until the elevator doors slid shut.

###### 

An arrow thunked into the tree next to her, catching one of the rose petals. “Faster!” she heard Cinder shout. Ruby growled, but pushed herself to move faster. This time, the arrow grazed her. It didn't hurt, her aura deflected it, but it did feel uncomfortable. “Your semblance is speed, I should barely be able to _see_ you, let alone hit you.” Ruby pushed herself a little faster. There was a sudden flash of light and Cinder was in front of her, swinging one of her swords in an upward arc. Ruby yelped and threw herself to the side, tumbling to the ground. Cinder stood over her and said, “You’re holding back.”

“I’m trying to control my anger better,” Ruby snapped as she stood up.

“Doin’ a great job!” Mercury shouted. Emerald smacked him lightly on the back of his head. Ruby glared at him.

“Why would you want to do that, little Rose?” Cinder said softly.

“I talked to Ozpin earlier. He got me worried that I might hurt someone I care about. I need better control so that doesn't happen.”

“Control is an admirable goal Ruby,” Cinder said, “but don’t let it get in the way of your progress. Anger makes you strong. You’ve noticed that by now, right?” 

Ruby nodded. “I have done things with my semblance that I never thought I could.”

“And how did you accomplish those things?”

“It was when I let myself go, when I gave into the anger.”

Cinder smiled. “Exactly.” She stood and faced Ruby, nocking an arrow and aiming it at her. “Round two?”

Ruby nodded and took off. The arrow flew past her as she ducked out of the way. She pushed herself as hard as she could, dodging Cinder’s arrows easily. She reached inside herself toward her anger and she felt it, burning. Anger at Ozpin for pushing her until she broke. Anger at herself for saying those things. Anger at Glynda for stopping her. She moved faster and faster, continuing to look inside herself. Suddenly, she felt something else. Something that felt like pure power. She tentatively reached for that power and out of nowhere there was a flash of silver light. Ruby felt amazing. She felt energized, like she could fight a Goliath all on her own. The feeling was short lived however, because Cinder let out an anguished scream. Ruby stopped moving immediately and looked over at Cinder. Emerald was next to her, helping Cinder stand. Cinder was cradling her arm, grimacing as her hand brushed across an angry red burn mark. Her bow had broken, it lay in half-melted pieces on the ground. Ruby gasped, her eyes going wide. “I-” she started to say.

“Never do that again,” Cinder growled, pain and rage in her voice. Her eyes were locked on Ruby’s and they were glowing dangerously. Ruby nodded, horrified. What good was that power when all it did was hurt her friends? She would have to stick to her regular abilities and leave that silver power alone.

“I’m so sorry Cinder. I didn't mean to.” She hesitantly stepped toward Cinder. 

The raven-haired woman pushed Emerald away and stood. “I know, little Rose,” she said. She smiled weakly, but it was tight and forced. “Just don't do it again. You aren’t ready to use your silver eyes yet. That is something you must learn to control.” She winced in pain as she put her hand on Ruby’s shoulder without thinking. Cinder sighed and looked at her arm. “I suppose I will have to spend the evening dealing with this.”

Ruby looked away, embarrassed. “I’m really sorry. I didn't know that would happen.”

“Keep your promise not to use that power and everything will be fine,” Cinder said, placing her hand on Ruby’s chin and turning the young girl to face her. Cinder’s smile looked wooden and forced, and her eyes still had the dangerous glow. Her hand started to get hot. “Leave for now,” she said abruptly, pulling her hand away. “I will speak with you later.”

Ruby nodded and started to walk back toward the school.

###### 

Ruby got back to her room to find that Blake and Yang were gone. Weiss was there, studying as usual. She smiled at Ruby when the young huntress entered the room. Ruby smiled back as she walked past her and jumped up into her bed. She pulled out Summer’s scroll again, looking through the pictures for what felt like the thousandth time. A few minutes later she heard Weiss sigh, shut her book and stand up. Ruby glanced over at her and found herself staring into a pair of piercing blue eyes. “We need to talk Ruby.”

“Weiss, we’ve already-”

“It’s not about that woman Ruby. It’s about you. Come sit with me,” she said, patting a spot on her bed. Ruby reluctantly climbed down and sat next to her. “I’m worried about you Ruby.” She held up her hand to stop Ruby from responding. “I know, we’ve already driven this into the ground. But I wanted to talk, just the two of us. No Yang to try and mother you.” Ruby nodded. “Ruby, what happened today during the match...it scared me. You’re starting to seem...unhinged. I’ve never seen a look like that on your face before. Please Ruby, tell me what’s going on. You’re my friend and I’m worried about you.”

Ruby smiled a little, “So you finally admit we’re friends huh?”

“If you tell anyone, I will of course deny it,” she said with a smile. “And as your friend, I want you to tell me what is going on.”

Ruby sat silently for a moment, thinking. Keeping this all to herself was so hard, she was so tired and stressed out. Maybe telling Weiss some of it would help. Obviously she wouldn’t tell her anything that would get Cinder in trouble. “I’ve been arguing with Ozpin,” she finally said.

“About what?”

“I-” she said, her voice catching, “I think he knows what happened to my mom.” Weiss gasped. Ruby looked at her. “And he won’t tell me,” she said angrily.

Weiss looked confused. “Why not?”

“I don't know!” she shouted, standing up and starting to pace. “He says it’s too dangerous for me to know everything. He’s treating me like a child.”

“Ruby, I had no idea.”

“Don’t tell Yang.”

“Why not? She has a right to know. Summer was her mother too.”

“You’ve seen how this has hit me, can you imagine how Yang would take it?”

Weiss looked thoughtful for a moment. “I suppose you’re right. Are you doing anything about it?”

“Sorta...” Ruby said trailing off.

“Ruby?”

“I- I can't tell you anything about it,” Ruby said. Weiss gave her a worried look. “It’s- it’ll all make sense eventually, ok? Just please, trust me. And don’t tell Yang.”

“You’re not doing something that’s going to get you hurt are you?”

“No, of course not,” she said quickly. 

Weiss stared at her for a moment, then sighed. “Alright, I trust you. I’ll keep it a secret.” She shoved a finger into Ruby’s face. “Unless it looks like you’re going to get hurt. Okay?”

Ruby nodded. “Thanks Weiss.” She squeaked as Weiss suddenly enveloped her in a hug.

“If you tell anyone about this I’ll throw Crescent Rose off of a cliff.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm not dead! Just insanely busy. I still plan to see this story through to the end, but my updates may be more sporadic. Between graduating, looking for a job, studying for certification tests, and my regular job I'm pretty swamped right now.


	8. Chapter 8

Ruby stood, Crescent Rose deployed and ready. She was eager to start this fight, glad that the tournament was finally starting to get into gear. It had been a week since they had officially qualified for the tournament, and Ruby was starting to get frustrated with waiting. Most of the week had been spent in Cinder’s brutal training. The older woman had been tough on Ruby ever since she’d gotten hurt. The training had essentially been ‘beat down Ruby until her aura broke and then heal any bruises’. Cinder claimed that Ruby needed to be prepared for opponents that wouldn’t stop when her aura was low. Ruby was at least proud of the fact that it took longer for her to lose every time. She knew she couldn’t beat Cinder, the raven-haired woman had way too much experience.  
Ruby snapped back to reality when she heard Port begin the countdown. She focused on the anger within her, which had seemingly grown stronger every day. Cinder said that letting it out during a fight would help, but that only seemed to make it worse. For now though, she needed it. The moment that Port shouted “Begin!” Ruby was on the move. She sprung forward toward Arslan, who Cinder said was the one who held their team together. The other girl was surprised by the suddenness of Ruby’s attack and tried to fall back. Reese and Nadir tried to help but suddenly found themselves facing a wall of ice as Weiss worked to separate them. Yang sprung forward and engaged Bolin, trying to keep close so he couldn’t make full use of his staff. 

Ruby moved to attack again, working to dodge Arslan’s attacks. The girl was strong, but she had the same problem Yang often did. Her attacks packed a punch but were relatively slow. Ruby fell into a rhythm, attacking then dodging. She was firing to maintain her weapon’s momentum, but she never went for a single strong strike. It would leave her open. She was slowly chipping away at Arslan’s aura, dodging and weaving to avoid the other girl. Ruby seemed to be too fast for the other girl to keep up with, which is why she was shocked when a knee hit her in the face followed by a powerful blow that sent her reeling. “You’re too predictable,” Arslan said. 

Ruby glared at the girl, angry that she had gotten hit. Ruby moved in again to attack her, but was blindsided when Reese’s hoverboard slammed into her back. Blake quickly jumped in and engaged Reese before Ruby had to deal with two opponents. “She’s fast,” Blake said. 

“Go after the board, she won’t be nearly as fast without it.” Blake nodded and ran off. Ruby ducked as Arslan tried to hit her again. I’ve got to go faster she said to herself. She was mad that she’d allowed herself to be hit in the first place. She fired Crescent Rose and thew herself backward, avoiding a kick that shattered the ground she’d been standing on. Moving to engage, she heard a buzzer and glanced up at the screen. Reese had been eliminated. Arslan looked too, sighing heavily when she saw it was one of her team that was out. Blake appeared beside Ruby.

“Ladybug?” she asked.

Ruby shook her head. “No, go help Weiss.” Ruby narrowed her eyes. “Arslan is mine.” Blake’s expression was concerned for a moment, but she ran off to do as she’d been told. Ruby dug around in her pouch for a second and grabbed a magazine of gravity dust rounds. She readied her weapon, eyes locked on Arslan. A nearby explosion was followed up by a shout of triumph from Yang, distracting Arslan. Taking advantage of this Ruby fired Crescent Rose twice in quick succession, hurling herself forward. The other girl tried to counter-attack but she wasn’t prepared for the extra speed that Ruby gained from the dust rounds. Ruby caught her with Crescent Rose, but the other girl spun with the attack and used the momentum to punch Ruby and send her flying. 

Ruby twisted midair and landed on her feet. Ruby had hit her limit. She was tired of this girl showing her up. Her face twisted with rage and she lunged forward, shouting a battle cry. She slipped fully into her semblance, twisting into a red comet trailing rose petals. She slammed into Arslan’s chest, shattering the other girl’s balance. She slipped back into her normal form and hooked Crescent Rose around Arslan’s feet, pulling them out from under her. The other girl managed to catch herself on her hands and sprung up, but Ruby was waiting for her. The assault was relentless, Crescent Rose firing constantly to maintain speed. The other girl got a few weak hits through but Ruby took them and kept going, a whirling torrent of steel. Arslan buckled under the attack, unable to keep up with Ruby once finally she got going. A buzzer sounded and Ruby hauled back on Crescent Rose, knowing she would get in trouble again if she didn't stop. Cinder had made it clear team RWBY was not to be disqualified. 

Ruby turned, breathing heavily, and looked for her teammates. She saw them just in time to catch Blake throwing Yang through the air at the remaining members of ABRN. Yang’s warbling war cry cut through the noise of the crowd as she crashed into them and sent them flying into the mountain behind them. Two buzzers sounded in quick succession. “And the winner is – Team RWBY!” Port announced. Ruby looked around at her team. Yang grinned and gave her a thumbs up, Blake smiled and even Weiss looked happy. Ruby tried to smother the anger she still felt. The fight was over, she didn't need it right now. This was good. Although she hadn’t said why, Cinder told her that RWBY was important to her grand plan. Ruby had pushed for more information, but the raven-haired woman had been distant since that day in the forest. Ruby was still mad at herself about that. She had been foolish enough to try and use an ability she didn't fully understand, and her friend had gotten hurt because of it. At least when she was learning her semblance the only one that got hurt was her. And the walls of their house, she supposed.

“You in there?” Yang said, waving a hand in front of her face.

“Huh? Yeah. What’s up?” 

“We need to leave the arena,” Yang said, pointing to the exit. Ruby nodded, pushing down an irrational flash of anger at being interrupted. Once the team got out of the arena Weiss spoke up.

“So, who’s going on to the second round?”

“We should put it to a vote, that’s the most fair way to do it,” Ruby said.

Weiss nodded and said, “True. My personal vote is for Yang and Ruby.” Ruby looked at Weiss, shocked. The small girl just smiled and continued. “Yang managed to knock two of them out at once, although that was part of a group effort. Plus, Yang’s semblance will give her an edge if the fight ends up close. Ruby managed to take out Arslan on her own, allowing us more freedom to deal with the others. Her speed can make more difficult for opponents to track her as well.”

“You were zipping around like crazy out there sis, I guess your training with that woman actually helped.” Yang threw her arm around Ruby’s shoulder. “You might want to work on your expressions though. The whole ‘terrifying rage’ thing doesn't look good on you.” Ruby rolled her eyes.

“I agree with Weiss. Ruby’s speed and Yang’s strength make them a formidable team,” Blake said.

“Well I guess I won’t vote against myself. I’ll do my best for the team,” Ruby said, forcing a smile.

“Yeah! Nobody will be able to stand up against the sister dream team!” Yang pumped her fist in the air. Blake raised an eyebrow and Weiss rolled her eyes.

“Should we go to the fairgrounds? I’m a little hungry after all that,” Weiss said. Yang and Blake both nodded.

“I’m beat after that fight, I think I’ll go take a nap,” Ruby said.

“Alright. Good job out there Ruby,” Weiss said. Ruby smiled and waved as she walked off.

* * *

Ruby made her way to one of the bullheads that was going back to the school. The ride back was uneventful, so she used her time to try and relax a little. She wasn't very successful. When the ship landed she walked toward their dorm, nodding and smiling politely at a few random students who congratulated her on the victory. When she got up to their floor she saw Mercury waiting outside her room. He saw her and smirked. “Good fight kid. The boss wants to see you.” Ruby nodded and followed him.  
A few minutes later they arrived at Cinder’s room and Mercury knocked. Emerald opened the door and gestured for Ruby to sit.

“Congratulations little Rose. You performed quite well today,” Cinder said, smiling.

Ruby sighed. “I could’ve done better. Arslan hit me too much.”

“The important thing is that you won. Remember that, Ruby. The victory is far more important than the means by which you claim it.”

Ruby nodded. It made sense, she supposed. Why worry about how you got results if they ended up being what you wanted? “Why did you want to see me?”

“I need to know which of your teammates were chosen to move on to the next round.”

“Me and Yang.”

Cinder nodded and sat back, looking thoughtful. “Excellent. Perhaps we will have you fight team SSSN, if they move forward. If nothing else, team CRDL has already won their first fight. I doubt they would prove a challenge for you and your sister.” 

“Pyrrha fought their entire team by herself, I’m sure Yang and I can take two of them.”

“I doubt they would be a challenge even if you fought them alone, little Rose. Your anger has made you too strong for them,” Cinder said. Silence started to creep into the room, but Cinder broke it. “Very well, that is all I needed. You are dismissed.” Ruby nodded and walked out of the room.

Ruby sighed as she made her way out of the building. Cinder was clearly still upset about what happened, she was so much more distant than usual. She hoped that fulfilling her role in Cinder’s plan would help out. She wanted to continue training with the woman, but more importantly she didn't want to lose a friend. Especially not someone who had given her things that allowed her to connect to her mother, even if it was only through pictures. Ruby hadn't been lucky enough to know Summer, she had died when Ruby was still so young. For the longest time Ruby resented Summer for abandoning her, but that was before she had known the whole truth. Now she simply resented Ozpin for taking her mother. For denying her the chance to know a woman that both Yang and her dad spoke of so fondly.

Ruby made it about halfway back to her dorm before her brooding was interrupted by a gravelly voice. “Hey there kiddo.”

She turned around, a small but genuine smile on her face. “Uncle Qrow!” She went over and gave him a hug.  
“Got a minute to talk?”

“Sure,” Ruby said. Qrow lead her to a bench that was a little off the beaten path. 

“I caught your fight. You did pretty good kiddo, but you should work on not getting hit so much.” Ruby scowled and Qrow held up a hand. “I don’t mean when she interrupted your rhythm. Dodge and strike is a solid way of fighting, she was just good enough to predict your movements. I’m talking about at the end. You went a little nuts and she got a few good hits that you didn't even try to dodge.”

“I still won.”

“Maybe, but what happens if you do that against someone who’s a lot stronger? In a real fight you won’t be able to tell if you're opponent’s aura is low, so you need to always fight conservatively. Don't take a blow just so you can hit your enemy. You aren't Yang, getting hit doesn't make you stronger.”

“I won though. Isn’t that all that matters?”

Qrow sighed and shook his head. “That’s another reason I wanted to talk to you.” He leaned back and pulled out his flask. “I hear your attitude has been crap lately.” Ruby gave him a flat look. “See, that’s what I’m talking about. Your sister called me and said you’ve been pretty moody lately, and Oz tells me that you’ve been arguing with him. Hell, I heard from Goodwitch that she had to stop you from killing some poor girl.” He put his hand on Ruby’s shoulder. “What’s going on Ruby?”

“If you’ve been talking to Ozpin you know exactly what’s going on.”

He raised an eyebrow, “It’s just ‘Ozpin’ now, not ‘Professor Ozpin’?” Ruby glared at him. “Alright, alright.” Qrow scratched at his stubble. “Yeah, Oz told me what you two have been talking about. Your mother.”

“You work for him. You were the one that told dad she died. You know what happened. Will you tell me?” Ruby was hopeful. Qrow knew what had been happening lately, at least part of it. They were close.

Qrow sat back and took a long drink from his flask. “You aren't gonna like the answer to that.” Ruby’s scowl came back with a vengeance. Qrow caught the look and sighed. “Look kiddo, it may not seem like it but we have good reasons for keeping these things quiet.”

“And what are those?”

“Most people who learn about stuff like this, stuff like Salem, end up dead or worse.”

“Worse,” Ruby said dryly, “Than being dead.”

“Don’t mouth off if you don't know what you’re talking about. There are plenty of things worse than death in the darkest corners of Remnant.”

“Riiight. You know what this sounds like to me? The same kind of crap that Ozpin fed me, only with a slur.”

“Ruby, we’re just doing this to protect you.”

“Protect me?” Ruby jumped to her feet. “How is this supposed to protect me? How am I supposed to be able to defend myself if I don't know what I'm up against? How am I supposed to trust any of you after you’ve lied to me for my entire life?!”

“Ruby -”

“You’re just as bad as he is. You lie to me, and then when I find out you all keep me in the dark. Well you know what? I’m done. You can have your secrets.” She spun around and stormed off. Qrow called after her, but she ignored him. She needed to clear her head.

* * *

Crescent Rose sliced through the Beowolf, a slight tug as it passed through the “realistic” hologram. She turned, ducked beneath the paw of another, and cut it in half too. A dozen more surrounded her, the light constructs giving off a faint glow. It felt good to be doing something, even if she was just in one of the training rooms. She cut through the pack of Beowolves with little trouble, then reset the training program. More Grimm flickered into existence around her, lunging toward her. She cut them down, channeling her frustrations into fighting them. The next time she reset it, an alpha came with them. That could happen sometimes, the teachers claimed it was to help hunters in training get used to surprises.

The alpha gave her more trouble than the regular Beowolves. She hooked Crescent Rose around its feed and fired, throwing it to the ground. She screamed in frustration as she slammed the sharpened point of her weapon into the Grimm’s chest. It flickered away and Ruby stood there, panting. She felt so angry and so confused. She no longer knew who she could really trust, among the adults at least. She still had faith in her team. She just couldn’t tell them anything because they might get in trouble. Ruby dropped to her knees, trying not to cry. Even uncle Qrow had been lying to her. Who else had been? Was her dad in on it too?

Ruby felt a hand on her shoulder and looked up to see Cinder looking down at her. “Are you alright, little Rose? You seem troubled.”

“I talked to my uncle earlier.”

“Qrow is here?” Cinder said, her gaze suddenly intense.

“Yeah. It turns out that he’s been lying to me all along too, just like Ozpin.” Ruby looked at the floor, trying hard not to cry over the betrayal she felt. “I don't even know who to trust anymore.”

Cinder grabbed Ruby’s chin and turned her head so that their eyes were locked. Her eyes were glowing again, and she smiled gently. “You can trust in me. I’ll never lie to you Ruby.”

Ruby smiled back at the raven-haired woman. “Thank you, Cinder.”

“You are welcome, child.” She helped Ruby to her feet. “Now, let’s head to the coliseum and watch the next fight. After all, the festival is a time to have fun.” A wry smirk appeared on her face as she walked with Ruby.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And so we reach the "endgame" of the story. Things aren't going to happen exactly as they did in Vol 3 (obviously), and that doesn't just include the major changes. Different battles, things like that. I feel like it would be really boring to just write what happened in the show for the fights and whatnot. 
> 
> Also, as an aside, I'm excited that I finally figured out how to do that horizontal line, but kinda sad that it's taken me this long.


	9. Chapter 9

Ruby watched, incredulous, as Neptune and Sun danced in the middle of the arena. “Did...did that just happen?” Emerald asked.

“I’m not sure what’s worse, how they won or the fact that Port called it ‘well earned’” Mercury said.

“Well….it’s the win that matters, not how you got it, right?” Ruby asked sheepishly.

Neo gave her a confused look, and Cinder smiled. “Exactly, little Rose.”

“Still though, there’s such a thing as style. And not embarrassing yourself.” Mercury said. Emerald nodded.

“Ruby is correct. Embarrassing or not, their team won. Based on what I know of them, and how the fight went, I assume they’ll choose Sun and Neptune to move on to the next round. Do you think you and your sister can beat them?” she asked, looking at Ruby. 

“After watching _that_ I’m confident that we’ll wipe the floor with them. Especially if there’s water involved.”

“Good. I’ll arrange it so that your team fights them.” She stood up and began to walk toward the exit. “Follow me, little Rose. I have something to show you.” Ruby nodded and got up, following Cinder out of the arena. Emerald and Mercury fell into step behind them.

“Hey! Ruby!” she heard from behind her. She turned and saw Yang waving as she walked toward them. She hugged Ruby, giving Cinder a cool look. “I feel like I haven't seen much of you today. Did you run into uncle Qrow yet?”

“Yeah...” Ruby said, scowling.

“Yikes, I guess it didn't go to well.” Yang’s smile broadened. “Hey, we were gonna go congratulate the dorks and then check out rest of the fair. You want to come along?”

Ruby looked at Cinder. “I’ve got something to take care of right now, I’ll met up with you guys later.”

Yang sighed, sounding disappointed. “Alright, gimme a call when you’re done with whatever. Have fun with your girlfriend.” She gave Cinder another glare and walked off. Cinder glared back.

“Sorry about that,” Ruby said quietly, “I don't know why she doesn't like you.”

“It doesn't really matter, little Rose. Her feelings about me won’t be an issue after the plan finishes,” Cinder said with a smirk. Ruby looked at her, confused. “I’ll explain in due time, right now we should go. We have a bit of a hike ahead of us.”

Cinder wasn’t lying about the hike. About an hour and a half later the four of them were halfway up a mountain overlooking Beacon and Vale. The area was dotted with trees, birds chirping away happily. “So...this is a nice view and all, but why are we here?”

“Not into bird watching?” Mercury asked sarcastically.

Cinder gave him a stern look. “This is the spot where we will meet after the plan concludes. I wanted to show you personally, so that you know where to go if we get separated.” Cinder said.

“Right. When _will_ your plan start?” Ruby asked.

“In a couple of days. Near the conclusion of the finals, to be more exact. Your team is an important part of this, that is why you _must_ defeat team SSSN.”

“What are we going to do?”

“It isn't all of you. Just your sister.”

“Yang?” Ruby asked, surprised. “But she doesn't know anything about this.”

“I’m afraid her participation will be...less than intentional on her part. You see, little Rose, your sister has a reputation as a bit of a hothead. She will be matched up against Mercury, and will win. Emerald will use her semblance to convince Yang that Mercury is attacking her. She will retaliate, but everyone else will simply see a young student attacking another after the match has ended.”

“What?!” Ruby shouted. “Why?”

“We need negative emotions to draw the Grimm in. Not only will the arena be packed, but thousands more in Vale will be watching. With that large of a concentration of negative emotions the Grimm will surely come. And Ozpin will be drawn out.” Cinder sneered as she said this last part.

“I’ll do it.” Ruby said.

“What?”

“I’ll do it. I’ll attack Mercury. We don’t need to get Yang into trouble.”

“That would save me the trouble of using my semblance. She could slam that oversized gardening tool of hers into his legs.” Emerald said. Ruby glared at her, unhappy with how she was talking about Crescent Rose. Cinder just stared at Ruby, a look of slight confusion briefly on her face.

“Are you willing to take that risk, little Rose? If the plan should somehow fail you would still be punished for attacking an innocent student.”

“I don't care. It’s my choice to make. Yang wouldn’t even know what was going on, there’s no reason to put her through that. No reason to everyone think she hurt an innocent person.”

Cinder eyed Ruby for a moment before nodding. “Very well. You’re brave for sacrificing yourself like this, little Rose.” Ruby smiled at her. “Now, go rest up. You need to be at your best for tomorrow.” Cinder said. 

“Right,” Ruby said as they all started to walk back to the school.

“Can I object to you two referring to Mercury as innocent?” Emerald said from behind them.

* * *

“Ruby Rose and Yang Xiao-Long versus…Sun Wukong and Neptune Vasilias,” Port boomed over the speakers.

“Well this certainly promises to be an interesting fight doesn't it Peter?” Oobleck said.

“It certainly does Bart.”

The two men continued their commentary as the four students made their way into the arena. “Professor Port definitely likes to hear himself talk, eh sis?” Yang said. Ruby smiled.

“Hope you girls don't mind losing,” Sun said as they reached the middle.

“I hope you don't mind leaving with your tail between your legs,” Yang said with a smirk. Sun gave her a flat look.  
An electronic chime sounded as the first terrain area was chosen: anti-gravity. “Haven’t seen this one yet. What’s it do?” Sun asked. Neptune shrugged and Yang just smiled. A second chime sounded as the next terrain was chosen: the swamp. Neptune’s eyes went wide and Sun face-palmed.

“Oooh, bad luck there water weenie,” Yang said. Ruby smiled. Cinder probably had something to do with that bit of terrain. Yang looked at Ruby and tilted her head toward Neptune. Ruby nodded.

“I am not a-” Neptune started.

“Three! Two! One! Begin!” Port shouted. Yang surged forward, slamming a fist into Neptune’s torso that sent him flying right into the swamp. 

Sun sighed, “Aww c’mon.” He pulled his staff out and went for Yang. She ducked under his attack and used Ember Celica to push herself backward.

“I’ve got Neptune!” Yang shouted and fired herself into the swamp. Sun tried to go after her but Ruby appeared in front of him, Crescent Rose already mid-swing. Sun moved his staff to block, grunting a little as he caught the blow. He spun trying to land a kick but she stepped to the side. Sun pressed the attack, keeping close to her and making it difficult to use Crescent Rose. She ducked under one attack and then held the blade of her scythe behind her in a loose grip. Sun stepped forward and Ruby pulled the trigger, the recoil sending the sharpened point of the haft directly at Sun. He jumped to the side and Ruby took this opportunity to give herself a little distance. She stepped back and fired again, swinging in a wide arc.

Sun danced around, dodging her attacks but Ruby didn't care. She was building momentum, at a certain point Sun wouldn’t be moving fast enough to dodge. So she thought, at least. He ducked under her swing and swung his staff upward into Crescent Rose, throwing her off her rhythm. He spun his staff around a couple times, smiling. With one hand he grabbed the middle of the staff and twisted, the two halves coming apart. He moved in close, spinning and firing his guns. It was all Ruby could do to dodge, he was too close for her to use her scythe to block the shots. She swung as hard as she could toward him, forcing him to jump over the haft. She launched herself backward and slipped into her semblance completely.

She moved around him in circles, Sun still firing his weapons. She pushed herself faster and faster, until she thought she was ready. She let one arc go wide, moving herself out of the range of his guns and moved directly toward him. Sun reassembled his gunchucks back into a staff to swing down at her as she moved close, but at the last second she split into two pieces and moved around him. She’d done it! She had no idea how, but she’d managed it again. She slipped back into her body and started firing at Sun who was standing there looking confused, right up to the point where he got hit with a couple shots to the back. His aura dropped into the yellow, and he spun on her trying to close the distance. Ruby fired until he was too close, and then started to swing.

Both of them were interrupted by a sudden burst of laughter from Yang. “Are those water wings?” she shouted, sounding out of breath. Sun’s palm hit his face with an audible slap. 

“They are a high-tech water safety solution!” Neptune shouted back. Yang started laughing harder. 

“Come on dude,” Sun said quietly. Ruby decided to use this distraction to change the playing field. She quickly moved forward, catching Sun around the midsection with the blade of her scythe. She fired, spinning around and throwing Sun into the anti-gravity zone. “Hey- woah!” he shouted as he fell upward onto the bottom of a platform. Ruby sped forward and jumped up to the platform, spinning mid-air and landing on her feet. She immediately pressed the attack, hoping to catch Sun before he could gain footing. He dodged backward and flipped over the edge of the platform, flailing a little as he fell the wrong way. He tried to grab another platform but missed falling up until he left the area affected by the anti-gravity field, then promptly falling back down into it. Ruby jumped off the platform and fell toward him, slipping into her semblance as she did. She caught him again with her blade and threw him toward the edge of the arena. A buzzer sounded shortly after he hit the ground, signaling that he was out. Ruby fired herself toward the center of the arena, landing hard as gravity started to work correctly again.

She looked up at the status board. Sun was eliminated, her aura had just hit yellow. Yang and Neptune were both pretty low, with Yang slightly lower. A loud explosion and a small pillar of yellow flame told her that Yang had just activated her semblance. She sped toward her. She broke through the tree line and found a large number of splintered trees and small craters in the dirt. Yang was rushing at Neptune but he just smiled and shoved his staff down into the water that Yang was running through. At the last second she jumped, but Neptune managed to throw himself out of the way of her strike. “Stand still!” Yang yelled, sounding frustrated.

“Yeah, that doesn't sound like the best idea,” Neptune yelled back. He was entirely focused on dodging Yang so he never even saw Ruby coming. He moved to the side to avoid another punch but Ruby was there, slamming the blunt side of Crescent Rose into him. He stumbled forward, right into the path of Yang’s fist. Yang winked at him right before her fist connected, sending him straight into the ground. A buzzer sounded. 

“And the winners are: Yang Xiao-Long and Ruby Rose!” Port shouted happily.

“I must say that was an exciting bout to watch. Ms Rose seems to have mastered her semblance more than anyone knew. Mr Wukong and Mr Vasilias put up an excellent fight but a win clearly wasn't in the cards for them,” Oobleck rattled out over the loudspeaker. Did that man ever take time to breathe?

“Yes, an exciting bout and a well deserved victory for the young sisters. I for one am excited to see which of them is chosen to move on to the singles match.” Port and Oobleck kept up the commentary as Yang and Ruby, with Neptune following behind, made their way out of the arena.

* * *

“That was amazing you guys,” Blake said as Ruby and Yang walked up to them.

“It would probably have gone better if Yang hadn't gotten herself electrocuted so many times,” Weiss said. Yang stuck her tongue out at her and Weiss rolled her eyes. “Still, congratulations on the win you two. That was an amazing match.”

“Thanks,” Ruby said. 

“I told you no one could stand against the sister dream team,” Yang said as she gave Ruby a little half hug. Ruby tried to squirm away but Yang was pretty strong.

“So,” Weiss said, “how are we going to decide who moves forward? Another vote?”  
“I think I should go,” Ruby said quickly.

“Gee, thanks for even considering me sis,” Yang said jokingly. 

“I don't know...” Wiess said. “Yang’s semblance and style could allow her to perform better alone. No offense intended.”  
“Weiss has a point. Yang gets stronger as her aura gets lower, giving her at least some chance against an opponent like Pyrhha, who is clearly superior,” Blake said.

“Hey!”

“Yang, she fights entire teams on her own.”

“So? Last time we fought I got pretty close to winning.”

“Still,” Ruby interrupted, “I took out Sun on my own, and helped take Neptune down.”

“I had him.”

“Your aura was barely above his,” Ruby said. “I’m just trying to say that I was the one that did the most to get us the win.”

Yang sighed, “She’s not wrong guys. If I’d had to face Sun after taking down Neptune I’m not sure I would’ve won.”  
Blake and Weiss considered that for a moment before they both nodded. “Alright, then Ruby will represent our team in the finals,” Weiss said. Relief washed over Ruby like a cool breeze on a hot day. She’d done it, she’d managed to save Yang from getting in trouble. Now she just had to make sure she went through with her part of the plan.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I pulled a few things from the V3 commentary for this fight, namely the swamp and anti-grav terrain, and Neptune having water wings built into his outfit.
> 
> This chapter was a bit lighter, but it's kinda like that brief moment when you trip where you're just hanging in the air before your face gets slammed into the ground.


	10. Chapter 10

“Good luck Ruby!” Weiss shouted as Ruby as she walked out toward the arena.

“Kick butt sis!” Yang yelled. Ruby smiled weakly. The winner of this fight had already been decided. Ruby braced herself, knowing what she had to do afterward. She lined up with everyone as they waited to see who was fighting this evening. Everyone else was waiting anyhow, Ruby knew what was coming. 

“Mercury Black versus…Ruby Rose!” Cheers erupted from the crowd. Pyrrha smiled and wished Ruby luck as she made her way out of the arena with the rest of the finalists. Ruby stood, nervous, across the platform from Mercury as it lifted up above the rest of the arena. The battle area was smaller in the finals, and there was no terrain. Just a showing of skill between two hunters. Or in this case, just a show. Cinder told them both to make it look good, but she’d also said in no uncertain terms that Ruby was to win. Otherwise she wouldn’t be able to ‘injure’ Mercury. 

“Hope you don't expect me to go easy on you,” Mercury said with a grin. Ruby’s response was unfurling Crescent Rose and getting ready to attack. Mercury’s grin grew wider. “All business then.” He walked closer to her and put his arms up. 

“Begin!” Ruby spun her scythe towards Mercury and intercepted a kick coming toward her face. She fired, throwing his balance off momentarily. She tried to spin Crescent Rose around and hook one of his legs but he jumped out of the way, shooting as he did. He spun on his hands, hitting her in the face, before he got back to his feet and kicked her in the stomach and sent her back a few feet. Ruby got back to her feet and rushed forward, firing to gain momentum. She swung as fast as she could but Mercury still jumped over it. His foot connected with her head and slammed her back into the ground.

“C’mon kid, get angry. You fight so much better when you're angry,” he said. Ruby growled in response and jumped to her feet. He wanted her angry, fine. She lunged at him, dodging his kick and swinging in a sweeping upward arc. She connected, landing her first good hit of the match. Mercury spun but Ruby had already moved out of the way, coming in from behind for another hit. Mercury dodged left but spun suddenly as she appeared behind him, kicking and firing as soon as the hit connected. Ruby went flying toward the edge of the arena. She heard the crowd gasp as she went past the border, but she just growled again and slipped into her semblance. She flew back up to the platform, spinning as she slipped back into her body. With a wild scream she slammed Crescent Rose into Mercury and sent _him_ flying for once. Good. She was done being shown up.

“Alright, now it’s a fight,” he said. He still sounded completely unfazed, his cocky tone infuriating her. She launched herself toward him, using a fraction of her semblance to give her more speed. Rose petals began to fall from her cloak as she closed in. She hit Mercury like a tornado, steel and rose petals flying around wildly. He managed to deflect a lot of her hits, but Ruby just went with the flow and re-directed her scythe to keep up the assault. He eventually leapt backward, firing to give himself some distance. As soon as he hit the ground he began to spin wildly on his hands, firing off what looked like dust rounds. Ruby managed to dodge them all, but she couldn’t get too close or she’d get hit. Suddenly Mercury stopped spinning, flipping to his feet and smirking.

Ruby quickly noticed that his shots hadn't actually _missed_ , instead they’d been forming a spinning wall around the arena. And now all of those shots were coming directly at her. As a reflex she slipped into her semblance and became a comet made of rose petals. She’d hoped that the shots would just hit the ground where she’d been standing, but no such luck. They were following her, and her heavy use of semblance was starting to drain her aura. She couldn’t keep this up forever. That’s when an idea struck her.

Ruby abruptly changed direction and headed straight for Mercury. He readied himself for an attack, and as she got close he kicked downward. At the last second Ruby _pulled_ and managed to split herself again. Mercury’s kick shattered the ground beneath and he turned to look at her, surprise on his face. Then the entire cloud of shots slammed into him, sending him to the ground. She saw a flicker of light play across his body as his aura broke, and a buzzer sounded. “Ruby Rose wins! A stunning upset,” Port boomed over the loudspeaker. Ruby looked up at the board. 16% aura. She had cut it close.

“Yes Ms Rose managed to cleverly use Mr Black’s own attack against him in a spectacular display of battlefield strategy.”

Mercury stood up. “That was a nice move,” he said. More quietly, “You ready for this?” Ruby gave him a watery smile. He walked toward her, hand held out as though he was going to shake her hand. Ruby’s heart was pounding as she thought, _he won’t actually be hurt_. When he got close, she suddenly spun and slammed Crescent Rose into his shin.

The crowd fell into stunned silence. It was quickly replaced by a chorus of boos. Ruby looked up and saw her team on their feet. She could imagine the looks on their faces, confusion and shock. “Cut the feed!” she heard Oobleck whisper loudly into the mic. 

“Why’d she do that?” Mercury cried in fake pain. Emerald ran up and knelt by him.

Two medics ran up to him with a stretcher, keeling to inspect Mercury’s ‘wound’. “Is he going to be ok?” Emerald asked, sounding desperate.

“He should be if we can get him to a hospital in time.” He glared at Ruby, obviously angry. Him and the other medic lifted Mercury onto the stretcher and ran out of the arena, Emerald trailing. _Probably to keep them seeing an actual wound instead of metal_ , she thought.

“Ruby Rose! Stand down!” A group of Atlas soldiers approached her, guns trained on her. Ruby collapsed Crescent Rose and hung it from her back and put her hands in the air. The boos continued as she was escorted out of the arena. She was angry at that. If these people knew what she was doing for them and their families they wouldn’t treat her this way. She sighed, supposing that it had to be this way. Otherwise Cinder wouldn’t get the Grimm she needed.

The soldiers brought her to General Ironwood. “Take her back to her room. She’ll be dealt with, and right now I have to do damage control,” he said. His gaze was locked on Ruby, and she could see the mixture of anger and disappointment on his face. She just glared at him. After all, he was part of Ozpin’s inner circle. He was probably her enemy too.

* * *

“Absolutely unacceptable. You do realize that this is going to be a nightmare for us, don’t you Miss Rose?” Glynda shouted. “You will likely face expulsion for this! If it weren’t for Professor Ozpin you’d be in jail right now. What do you have to say for yourself?”

“He attacked me,” Ruby said.

“That isn't what everyone else saw. No, everyone else saw you attack an innocent young man who was walking up to you after the match.”

“I-”

“Save it Miss Rose. You will have plenty of time to answer questions after the tournament concludes. In the mean time, you will be confined to your room. General Ironwood has stationed guards at the door, so don’t try to escape. And it should go without saying that your team has been disqualified,” Glynda said angrily. Weiss glared at Ruby. “Good night, Miss Rose.” Glynda left, the door slamming behind her as she did.

“What in the world were you thinking?” Weiss demanded.

“I told you, he attacked me! I just responded.” Ruby looked around the room. Weiss looked angry. Blake looked skeptical. Yang just looked sad. “You guys don’t believe me.” She should be fine with that, since it was a lie. One that Cinder had asked her to tell. Still, it hurt that nobody believed her. 

“You’ve been...erratic lately,” Blake said. She wasn't making eye contact with Ruby. “It reminds me of...” She shook her head.

“I believe you Ruby,” Yang said quietly. “After all, that’s what sisters do, right? We stick together.” Her voice wasn't confident at all. Even Yang thought she’d just brutally attacked someone. Her heart sank.

“I want to believe you,” Weiss said, sitting down next to her.

“What does _that_ mean?” Ruby asked. 

“Blake is right. You’ve been acting strange lately. Professor Goodwitch had to stop you from attacking someone after a match already. How is this different?”

“Because he attacked me!” Ruby insisted.

“Could it be that you just think he did?”

“Weiss this isn't going to get us anywhere,” Yang interrupted. She looked at Ruby, “Ruby, we’ve been...talking. We think that you should see someone. A therapist. You’ve been so angry lately, and it seems to only be getting worse. I know you’ve been arguing with Professor Ozpin about what happened to mom and we think that talking to a professional might help.”

Ruby glared at Weiss. “I promised to keep it a secret unless it looked like you were going to do something that got you hurt. Well, I think this qualifies,” Weiss said. Ruby felt betrayed. The fact that her friends didn't believe her, that they thought she was crazy, hurt. Tears welled up in her eyes and it was all she could do to keep herself from crying. 

“I’m… I think I’m going to go to bed,” Ruby said quietly, struggling to keep her voice steady.

“Just think about it, ok?” Yang asked. Ruby nodded and climbed up into her bed. The rest of the team left, saying something about giving her time to think. That was good, she wanted to be alone right now.

That way no one would hear her cry herself to sleep.

* * *

Ruby spent most of the next day alone. Her team talked to her a little, Yang even brought her breakfast, but it was clear that she wanted to be by herself. She wondered if this is how everyone would have reacted if it had been Yang in that fight. Mostly she just wondered if, after everything was said and done and Ozpin was brought down, if she would get her team’s trust back. She hoped so. At least she would have Cinder and her team. Cinder had sent Ruby a text congratulating Ruby on a good performance and asked if she was being treated ok. At least someone didn't think she was crazy.

Evening came faster than she thought it would. The next fight would be starting soon. She wondered who Cinder had chosen for tonight’s match. Her scroll buzzed and she saw she had a text from Cinder. Apparently thinking of the raven-haired woman was enough to catch her attention. _Meet me on the roof now and bring your weapon_ , it said. Ruby wondered how she was supposed to do that. There were only two guards on the door, and they were robots. She could easily outrun them, but then the Atlas army would be hunting her. The window maybe? She looked outside and figured it was dark enough that nobody would see her climbing. 

After a few minutes of climbing that was a lot harder than it looked, Ruby got to the roof and saw Cinder standing there. She looked unhappy. “Is something wrong?” Ruby asked.

“It seems that my virus was discovered. I no longer have the ability to fix the matches. I have a feeling that Ozpin is responsible.”

“Will this stop the plan?”

“That intends entirely on who fights.” She held up her scroll, which was showing a live broadcast of the tournament. The finalists were all lined up, waiting to see who would fight.

“Pyrrha Nikos versus...Penny Poledina!” Ruby gasped. Penny and Pyrrha? Wouldn’t Pyrrha’s semblance give her an incredible advantage?

“Hmm...Ozpin’s champion pitted against Ironwood’s pet project.” Cinder turned and looked at Ruby. “Penny is your friend, correct?” Ruby nodded. “Well, hopefully she does well. It’s clear that Ozpin fixed this match. He must be trying to send Ironwood a message about interfering in the tournament. He must have discovered my program when he went in to fix matches himself.”

Ruby barely heard her, all of her attention was on the fight. It started off well, Penny was holding her own wonderfully. She was keeping Pyrrha on her toes, even managing to keep Pyrrha’s weapons away despite her semblance. Penny knocked Pyrrha back and all ten of her swords rose above her, preparing for a final strike. Pyrrha’s expression was briefly terrified, and then resolute. She threw her arms out and a wave of black energy shot from her body. Penny’s swords all flew backward and the red headed girl clutched at her chest. Ruby watched in horror as the cables connecting Penny to the swords wrapped around her body and cut her to pieces.

Ruby fell to her knees, stunned. Her mind didn't seem to be working right, it couldn’t seem to process the fact that she’d just seen her friend die. Ruby was dimly aware of Cinder saying something near her, dimly aware of the Grimm attack siren going off. She just knelt there for a while, shocked. Penny was dead. Pyrrha had killed her. Ozpin had fixed the match. Tears formed in her silver eyes, and a sob escaped her lips.

Cinder walked in front of her and lifted Ruby’s head to make eye contact. Cinder’s eyes were blazing. “My poor, wilted little Rose. They have taken everything from you, haven't they? Your mother, your friends, your family.” Sobs began to wrack Ruby’s body. Cinder leaned in closer, her voice a fierce whisper.

“Make them pay.”

Something broke inside Ruby. Her sadness was replaced by a towering inferno of rage and her vision seemed to blur. With a scream equal parts anguish and fury Ruby launched herself from the rooftop, deploying Crescent Rose as she fell. 

On the rooftop behind her, Cinder smiled.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two chapters in as many days. Apparently I write stories the same way I read them, once I get to a certain point I have trouble stopping. The four-day weekend helps I suppose.


	11. Chapter 11

Ruby tore through Beacon, a storm of rose petals and destruction. Grimm, White Fang, Atlas mechs, it didn't matter. Anything that got in her way was cut down mercilessly. She was barely aware of her surroundings, consumed by rage. A fire burned in her heart. _Make them pay_. She would. Everything was gone, and she would find those responsible. They would pay. _He_ would pay.

The tower. He would be there. It loomed in her vision, tall and imposing. She ran toward it, cutting down a Beowolf that dared to get in her way.

Then she saw it.

_Red and Gold. Betrayal._

A scream tore its way from her throat and she charged toward the woman. The figure saw her and cowered, screaming. Just before she reached her target something stopped her. Crescent Rose caught and she heard her prey whimper and run away.  
“What are you doing?!” she heard from behind her. She spun, snarling.

_Red. Betrayal._

The figure stood there, sword raised. The figure backed away from her. “Ruby?” the girl asked cautiously. Ruby flung herself forward with a scream, swinging wildly. Her opponent was skilled. Time and time again, Crescent Rose was deflected. Ruby didn't care, simply working that into her attacks to gain greater speed. The girl didn't strike back, instead she continued to frantically speak. Ruby ignored her. She pressed the attack, slamming again and again into that barrier. A flash of light and Ruby was thrown backward, pulled by something behind her. She spun and slipped into her semblance, using the backward momentum to propel her in an arc. She swung and once again found Crescent Rose caught in some sort of barrier. She hauled back, freeing her scythe from the wall, and used her semblance to fly over it. She flew downward, ready to strike, and found her weapon locked with a glowing white sword the size of a person. 

She was hurled backward again, this time slamming into the wall of a nearby building. She was furious. Her vision was clouded with red, and all she could see was her opponent. She leapt to her feet, ready to attack. She was surprised to find her opponent coming toward her, sword held out in front. Ruby dodged the strike and got in one of her own. The other girl stumbled, but resumed her attack. Her movements were slowing, just slightly. The other girl was tired. She attacked Ruby anyway, always going for strikes that would disable, trying to wound or disarm her. Ruby felt no such restrictions. She would make them pay. 

A flash of light and Ruby found herself suddenly on the defensive. Her opponent had gained a sudden burst of speed, and it was all Ruby could do to keep up. Crescent Rose spinning to deflect the attacks, Ruby began to use her semblance. Rose petals trailed from her cloak, spinning along with Ruby as she tried to break past her opponent’s defenses. Her opponent overextended herself with a thrust and Ruby pounced. She shoved Crescent Rose into the girl’s chest and fired. A flicker of white lightning told Ruby that her opponent had no aura. Ruby spun, hooking the girl with her scythe and throwing her to the ground. With a wild cry Ruby raised her weapon into the air and slammed it down point first. Ruby felt the shock of impact travel up her arms.

“Ruby!” she heard someone shout. She turned and saw someone running up.

_Yellow and orange. Warmth. Love._

Reality came into focus and Ruby saw Yang running toward her. “Ruby I’ve been looking ever--” Yang slid to a stop, eyes wide. She stepped back, arms raised into a defensive position and Ember Celica deployed. She looked terrified. “Oh my god Ruby...”

A look of confusion appeared on Ruby’s face, until she heard a weak voice behind her. “Ruby...” Confusion was replaced with terror. Ruby turned around and her world shattered.

Lying on the ground, Crescent Rose buried in her chest, was Weiss. She looked confused. Her blue eyes were wide and filled with fear. A red stain slowly crept across her dress. “Ruby,” she whispered hoarsely. She gasped one more time and the light left her eyes, left her staring sightlessly toward the shattered moon.

“No,” Ruby sobbed. “No, no, no, no.” She stumbled backward, falling to the ground. “Weiss,” she whimpered. She crawled forward towards Weiss. Desperately Ruby felt Weiss’ neck, hoping for some sign of life but knowing she wouldn’t find any. She sobbed. It wasn't supposed to be like this. She’d wanted to prevent people from losing loved ones. Now her best friend was dead. Ruby had killed her. 

“Ruby,” she heard Yang say from behind her. “Ruby what the hell is going on? What did you do?!” Yang sounded on the verge of tears. Ruby felt a touch on her shoulder and lurched away. She saw Yang standing there, violet eyes filled with tears. She looked afraid. Afraid of Ruby.

Ruby felt like her chest was going to cave in. This wasn't supposed to happen. She opened her mouth to speak, but was interrupted.

“There she is! Stop her!” Ruby spun and saw several Atlesian soldiers moving toward her, weapons trained on her. “Open fire!” Bullets lanced toward her, some ricocheting off of her aura. Ruby backed away, trying to shield herself from the fire. Yang tried to stop the soldiers but they just pushed her aside. Hurt, confused, and unarmed, Ruby did the only thing she could think of.

She fled.

* * *

Ruby found herself standing on the side of a mountain in a small copse of trees. The meeting place. She’d run here almost on instinct. She turned back and saw Beacon. She wished she hadn’t. 

Beacon and Vale were burning. The CCT tower was destroyed, all but one of the Atlesian airships were gone and the remaining one was on fire. A massive winged Grimm was flying over the school, lances of multicolored light and large chunks of stonework flying at it.. This wasn't right. This wasn't how it was supposed to go. Cinder had told her that nobody would get hurt. 

This was all her fault.

Ruby looked down and saw blood on her hands. Weiss’ blood. She fell to her knees and started to weep. What had she done?

A few minutes later the sound of crunching leaves let her know someone was coming. She looked up and saw Cinder, Emerald and Mercury walking toward her. Cinder’s eyes blazed, full of glee. She caught sight of Ruby and her smile broadened. “My little Rose, you made it.”

“Cinder!” Ruby sobbed. “This...what happened? It wasn't supposed to be like this.”

“No plan survives contact with the enemy little Rose. We were successful though. Ozpin is dead.” She sounded excited. 

“Dead?!” Ruby shouted. “I thought we were just trying to stop him.”

“We were,” Cinder purred, “and we did. He will no longer trouble anyone.” She sounded immensely satisfied with herself.

Ruby looked at her hands and the blood on them. Ozpin dead, the school destroyed, Weiss…

_Make them pay <,em>, echoed through her mind. Cinder’s voice. Why had she said that? “Cinder I-” Ruby sobbed, “I killed Weiss.” She looked at her hands again and the sight of Weiss’ body flashed through her mind. “I don't know if I can to this anymore,” she said, looking at Cinder. She felt drained. Broken._

Cinder walked up to Ruby and laid a hand on her shoulder. “My poor little Rose.” She gathered Ruby into a gentle hug. “It will be alright Ruby. We will take you with us. I can make you whole again. Shield you from the consequences of your anger.”

_Anger can be a weapon. There are times when it must be unleashed to wreak havoc on your foes,_ Cinder’s voice echoed again. Cinder, who had driven her to use that anger.

“But...if you were successful then can't we reveal everything? Wasn’t this all to stop Ozpin from hurting people? Can’t we tell everyone about his secret war?” Would they understand? Could Ruby be forgiven?

“I’m afraid it’s no longer that simple. The actions you took in your fury have changed things. Atlas won’t take the death of the Schnee heiress well, nor the other deaths you caused. We must go for now, little Rose. For your sake,” Cinder said gently. 

“Other deaths?” Ruby asked, voice breaking. 

Cinder looked at her sadly. “I’m afraid that you killed several others while you were lost to rage.” A pit formed in Ruby’s stomach. Others. She had killed more than just Weiss. More tears welled up in her eyes and she nearly cried again. Her anger, the anger she thought was making her strong, the anger she thought would let her fight Ozpin’s injustices, had done nothing but kill innocent people. 

_Make them pay._ It was the last thing she remembered Cinder saying, before Ruby killed Weiss. Those words...something happened to Ruby when Cinder said them. 

Cinder pulled Ruby to her feet. “Come now, little Rose. I’ll keep you safe. I’ll teach you to better control your anger, so that things like this don’t happen ever again.”

_Holding onto anger is like holding onto a burning coal_ , another voice echoed through her mind, _in the end we hurt ourselves more than the people we’re angry with._. Ozpin. He was wrong though. Though Ruby hurt more than she thought possible, her anger had hurt everyone else far worse. The innocent people she killed in a blind rage. Yang, who saw her standing over the body of their friend. Weiss more than anyone. Weiss who was gone because of Ruby. Because Ruby’s anger had consumed her.

_Make them pay._ For weeks Cinder had told Ruby that anger made her strong. Cinder had encouraged her to let her anger loose, saying that strength was more important than control.

Something clicked deep in Ruby’s mind. “Cinder,” she asked quietly, “You meant for this to happen, didn't you?”

“Of course not, little Rose. I never intended so many to die, merely to expose Ozpin for his lies.”

“Then why did you tell me to ‘make them pay’?” Ruby said, locking eyes with Cinder. “You knew I was hurt. You encouraged me to fight angry.” Realization hit Ruby like a train. If she wasn't so exhausted she might have started to cry again. “You set me up. You pushed me until I nearly broke, then pushed some more.” Ruby backed away from Cinder.

Cinder stepped toward her, “Little Rose, I-”

“Stop calling me that!” Ruby shouted. That was what Summer had called Ruby. Her precious little Rose. “My mom always called me that.” Ruby’s voice got smaller as she put the final pieces together. “You called me that so I would trust you. So I wouldn’t question you. So you could use me.” She looked Cinder directly in the eyes as she said that. The raven-haired woman’s eyes were blazing. Literally.

“It seems you aren't as naive as I originally thought. Not that it matters at this point,” she said with a smirk. “Yes, child, I used you. But I have also given you an opportunity. An opportunity for great power, should you come with me. Maybe even vengeance, should you get strong enough.”

“What? Why would I after all this?” 

“I don't see that you have much choice. I wasn't lying when I said you killed others. Four members of the White Fang, three Atlesian soldiers, and three civilians all fell by your hand. And of course, the Schnee girl.” She said this last part with a sneer. “And I have it all on video. The entire world saw little Ruby Rose, the pride of Beacon, mercilessly cut down eleven people. You are a criminal now, child. The Schnee family will never stop hunting you. The only way for you to survive is to become stronger, something I can teach you.” Cinder stepped right up to Ruby, heat flowing from the woman’s body as she created a curtain of flame around them. “The way I see it you only have two choices. You can come with me, train, and become strong enough to kill anyone who stands in your way. Or you can die. Right now.” Flames gathered around Cinder’s hand as she spoke.

Ruby stood as tall as she could. She was terrified and exhausted, but she was resolute. “What happened to my mother?”

“Salem killed her. As she has all of the fools that Ozpin sent against her.” The flames grew hotter and Ruby felt her skin starting to burn. “Make your choice, child.”

“I can't work for you. Not after everything you made me do.” Ruby swallowed hard. She knew what was coming.

“A pity. You had such potential.” Cinder hurled a ball of flame toward her and Ruby jumped instinctively out of the way. She didn't know what she was going to do. Tired, unarmed, and nearly out of aura, she had no way to fight Cinder. She leapt over the flames and ran toward the forest, hoping to get away. Mercury appeared in front of her in a fighting stance.

“No way out kid,” he said. Ruby backed away but Emerald was right there. She was trapped between the three of them. She was going to die.

_I’m so sorry Weiss,_ she thought sadly. She fell to her knees, knowing it was over. Knowing she had nothing left.

Then she remembered a day in the forest. A power she had been told not to use. 

One that had hurt Cinder.

She looked inside and searched for that energy. She found it. Last time she had barely touched it. This time Ruby opened herself to it fully. She exploded with silver light, a torrent of energy spilling out of her eyes.

Cinder screamed in agony. 

So did Ruby. It felt like her eyes were on fire. Every muscle in her body felt like it was being pulled apart. Fighting to maintain consciousness, Ruby stood and walked toward Cinder. The older woman was contorted in pain, lying on the ground.

Ruby felt a kick slam into her back and she stumbled forward, aura breaking. She turned just in time to see Emerald swinging one of her blades toward her. A white hot line of fire traced its way up Ruby’s face, and suddenly Ruby could only see from one eye.  
The light went out, plunging the hill into darkness. Ruby fell to the ground, whimpering in pain. She could feel the blood running down her face. “Come on Mercury, we have to go!” Emerald said, frantic.

“What about the girl?”

“Leave her for the Grimm. Cinder is badly hurt. You know what will happen to us if she dies,” Emerald said.

Ruby dimly saw them walk off. A moment later she heard the sound of a bullhead taking off. She tried to move but she was too weak. She rolled over, facing Beacon and watched it burn. Her vision started to face. She only saw a swirling cloud of black and red. 

And then nothing.

* * *

# The End

# of Part One of _The Wilted Rose_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> That was honestly kinda hard to write. I knew that death scene was coming since I started this, but it was still difficult. 
> 
> I chose to end it here for a couple of reasons. One, the Fall of Beacon feels like a natural endpoint to a particular story. Two, the next part is going to expand the viewpoint to the remaining members of team RWBY as well as a few other people. It would have felt weird to me to start writing stuff from Yang's viewpoint in the middle of a story that had previously been solely told from Ruby's.
> 
> The next chapter is going to be an epilogue. It's there to help set the stage for the next part of the story.
> 
> This was pretty fun to write. Honestly the thing that I hope most from this, other than writing something that people enjoyed, is that I got better at writing.


	12. Epilogue

The door to the hospital room creaked open and Qrow walked in. The room was far to bright for his taste and smelled like disinfectant. “Hey there firecracker.” He walked over and sat down in a chair next to Yang. She looked up and gave him a weak smile.

“Hey uncle Qrow,” she said quietly. Her eyes were red and puffy and her hair was a complete mess. Her expression was bleak, the light that nearly always danced in her eyes was gone. She looked sad, tired, and defeated.

“How’s she doing?” Qrow asked, indicating the girl lying in the bed next to them.

Yang sniffed, rubbing at her eyes. “The doctors say that she’s stable, and once her aura starts to regenerate she’ll be fine. She’ll have to rest for a few weeks before she can do too much though. Her wounds were pretty bad.” 

Qrow put his arm around Yang and drew her into a tight hug. The young girl hugged back tightly, clinging to Qrow like he was all that kept her afloat. She started to cry, shaking in his arms. “Blake’s strong Yang,” he said softly, “and the doctors here are the best in Remnant. It’ll take more than a few stab wounds to keep her down.” She let go of him and sat back up, tears falling down her face.

“I should have been there. I could have saved her.” She was staring into her lap, her words broken and barely audible.

“All you would’ve done is guarantee yourself a room here too Yang.” She glared at him weakly. “I’m serious. That Faunus friend of yours, the one that found her, described her attacker to me. Adam Taurus is someone you don’t want to screw with. There’s a reason he’s a high ranking member of the Fang.”

She nodded, although it looked like she didn't believe him. Qrow sighed and took a drink from his flask. He looked at Blake lying on the bed unconscious, blankets covering her bandages. She’d been stabbed multiple times in the stomach. Taurus clearly hadn’t wanted her dead, otherwise she would be. He’d just wanted to cause her pain. Sick bastard. You didn't do things like that to people, even if they are your enemy. 

“Did you find Ruby?” Yang asked him quietly, looking over at him. Her eyes were intense and he thought he could see a spark of hope in them. Qrow sighed again. He hated what had to come next. Wordlessly, he handed Yang his flask. Her violet eyes went wide, fresh new tears welling up in them. “Uncle Qrow?” she asked desperately.

“Take a drink Yang,” he said, voice breaking. There wasn't enough whiskey in the world for stuff like this. He knew, he’d been trying to find out if there was since Summer had died. Yang nervously took a drink, coughing a little from the burn. Her expression was hopeless now, but she was still waiting for him to answer. He sighed, looking away. He’d never been able to look people in the eye when delivering news like this. “I investigated the spot where people reported seeing a bright flash of silvery light.”

“What? Why? What would that have to do with Ruby?” Yang interrupted. Qrow grabbed the flask back from her. He took a long drink.

“Your sister’s eyes made her special. Power to kill Grimm, stuff like that. People like her have always been associated with silvery light.” Yang just looked confused. He pressed on, knowing that if he stopped now he wouldn’t be able to continue. “I went up there and checked out the scene. There were a lot of scorch marks around, probably from Cinder. I don’t know if they had a falling out or what, but there were clear signs of a struggle. The only other things I found were some scraps of Ruby’s cloak, a bloodstain on the ground and three Beowolves.” The implication of that hung in the air. 

“The blood might not have been hers. She could’ve gotten away.” 

“I looked. Dammit Yang I spent hours looking. I practically tore that mountainside apart.” Qrow stood, frustrated. He wanted to break something. Preferably Cinder. “She’s gone Yang. Ruby’s dead.” 

"What if she went with Cinder?" Yang asked. She was clearly desperate for something to cling to, some reason her sister could still be alive. Even if that meant she went with the woman that had caused so much trouble.

"I found four sets of tracks leading to the clearing. That accounts for Ruby, Cinder, and Cinder's two minions. I only found three leading away. None of them could have belonged to Ruby." He thought he caught a glimpse of a footprint from a fifth person, but he had dismissed it. There was only one and it had appeared suddenly in the middle of the clearing. He assumed it was from an old set of tracks that hadn't entirely faded away.

He watched Yang break, watched her crumple as she sat forward and started sobbing. She buried her face in her hands. Qrow could feel tears welling in his own eyes. “No...” she sobbed breathlessly. “No,” she said a little louder. She looked up at Qrow and he saw that her expression had hardened. There was a fierce determination in her eyes and it made Qrow’s heart break. He knew what she was going to say next. It was the same thing that Tai had said to him all those years ago. “No. I don’t believe it.” 

“Yang-”

“No. Maybe she used her semblance and didn't leave tracks. Or maybe you missed something. I don't know. But Ruby isn't dead. She’s just missing.” Qrow looked at her, knowing from her expression that nothing he said would convince her she was wrong. She would come to accept it eventually. Everyone always did. He sat back down, offering Yang the flask again. She took it without question this time and took a long pull. “Does dad know?” she asked.

Qrow shook his head. “I got a hold of him and told him to come back now. He was already on his way though. He saw what went down before we lost the CCT. He should be here in a few hours.” Qrow wasn't looking forward to having this talk a second time. He hoped it would go better with Tai. He doubted it, but he hoped anyway.

“We should put together a search party.”

“Yang,”

“I know you think she’s- she’s dead,” Yang said, voice catching, “but even-”

“It’s not that. Even if I wanted to there’s nobody available. Right now everyone is too concerned with getting survivors to safety and trying to clear out the Grimm to search for one person.” Yang sat there for a moment, looking like she wanted to argue. “And I know you’re going to say that you should go look, but you’re barely awake. You need some rest. Plus,” he said, nodding towards Blake, “she’ll need someone here when she wakes up.”

Yang was silent for a long time. Finally, she spoke up. “How bad is it?”

“Pretty bad,” Qrow said. He sat there for a moment, thinking. Yang stared at him obviously wanting him to continue. “A bunch of civilians were killed. Most of the students were injured in one way or another. They had a lot of trouble with the paladins until Jimmy managed to take back his ship and shut ‘em all down. You’re pretty much the only one without some kind of physical injury. Luckily,” he said, the word tasting bitter, “only three students were killed. Your sister, Weiss, and Pyrrha.”

“Pyrrha?” Yang asked. Qrow nodded. “How?”

“Cinder killed her. Pyrrha had gotten part of the Maiden’s powers and Cinder wanted them. She died along with Oz.”

Yang’s eyes were wide as saucers. “Ozpin?” she asked, incredulous. Qrow nodded. A look of confusion spread across her face, “Wait, what’s a Maiden?”

“I’ll explain later,” Qrow said. Normally this was something he’d keep secret, but he’d gotten a pretty serious lesson about secrets tonight. He wondered if telling Ruby the truth would have prevented all this. He shook his head. That line of thought wouldn’t make things any better.

Yang nodded tiredly. “What about that huge flying Grimm?”

“A team of about twenty huntsmen and huntresses managed to kill it. Ten of them lost their lives. Including Glynda.” He stared at the wall. There weren’t too many left of Ozpin’s inner circle, and none that he trusted fully. “Jimmy’s ship was to damaged to help out,” he said, mostly to himself. 

Yang sat back, clearly struggling to take it all in. “What are we going to do?”

“I don't know Yang,” he said, finishing off the flask. “I don’t know.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little bit shorter of a chapter, but it was mostly to establish how the Battle of Beacon went for our heroes. 
> 
> At this point I'm going to take a little bit of time to outline what happens in the next part of the story. I do intend on doing a timeskip like RT did, but not nearly as long of one. I'm leaning towards a month at most.


End file.
